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Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards
Second Edition
for teachers of students ages 3–12
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©2012 (Preface revised and reformatted in 2015) National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
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ISBN 978-1-878520-49-4
Table of Contents
Preface�� 4
About the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards�� 4
About the Standards�� 6
About Certification�� 7
Foundation of National Board Certification for Teachers�� 8
Five Core Propositions�� 8
Architecture of Accomplished Teaching�� 10
Standards�� 11
Introduction�� 11
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards Statements�� 16
Standard I: Knowledge of Learners�� 18
Standard II: Equity, Fairness, and Diversity�� 22
Standard III: Learning Environment�� 27
Standard IV: Instruction�� 32
Standard V: Assessment�� 38
Standard VI: Reading�� 46
Standard VII: Writing�� 53
Standard VIII: Listening and Speaking�� 61
Standard IX: Viewing and Visual Literacy�� 67
Standard X: Literacy Across the Curriculum�� 73
Standard XI: Teacher as Learner and Reflective Practitioner�� 77
Standard XII: Collaboration with Families and Communities�� 80
Standard XIII: Professional Responsibility�� 84
Standards Committees�� 87
Acknowledgments�� 89
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Preface
About the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (National Board) is a not-for-profit professional
organization, created and governed by practicing teachers and their advocates. The founding mission of
the National Board is to advance the quality of teaching and learning by
.. maintaining high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and be
able to do;
.. providing a national voluntary system certifying teachers who meet these standards; and
.. advocating related education reforms to integrate National Board Certification into American
education and to capitalize on the expertise of National Board Certified Teachers.
Recognized as the “gold standard” in teacher certification, the National Board believes higher standards
for teachers means better learning for students.
Founded in 1987, the National Board began by engaging teachers in the development of standards for
accomplished teaching and in the building of an assessment—National Board Certification—that validly
and reliably identifies when a teacher meets those standards. Today, there are 25 certificate areas that
span 16 content areas and four student developmental levels. The essence of the National Board’s vision
of accomplished teaching is captured in the enduring document What Teachers Should Know and Be
Able to Do, at the heart of which are the Five Core Propositions:
1. Teachers are committed to students and their learning.
2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students.
3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
5. Teachers are members of learning communities.
The National Board believes that board certification should become the norm, not the exception, and
should be fully integrated into the fabric of the teaching profession. In other professions, such as medicine,
engineering, and architecture, board certification has helped to create a culture of accomplished practice
and is a major reason why those professions are held in such high regard by the public. Those professions
did what teaching must now do: strengthen the coherent pipeline of preparation that begins in preservice and continues through board certification and beyond, with each step engineered to help teachers
develop toward accomplished. More than 110,000 teachers had achieved board certification by 2014, a
number which represents the largest group of identified teaching experts in the country. Given the size
of the teaching workforce, however, this sizable number represents fewer than 3 percent of teachers.
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For most children that means they go through their entire schooling without being taught by a boardcertified teacher. Each teacher who pursues board certification helps to close this gap, strengthening the
profession and the quality of teaching and learning. In a world where board certification is the standard
that all teachers aspire to and most achieve, students experience accomplished teaching throughout their
schooling, unleashing their potential.
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About the Standards
Every child deserves an accomplished teacher—one who is qualified to equip students with the skills
to succeed in a global community. The core mission of the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards is to create field-specific standards for accomplished teaching that are grounded in the Five
Core Propositions and that articulate the actions that accomplished teachers employ to advance student
learning. Each standards document represents a professional consensus on the attributes of practice that
distinguish accomplished teaching in that field. Many school systems use the standards as the basis for
ongoing professional development, and many colleges and universities incorporate the standards into
their undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs.
Standards are developed and revised by a committee of 12–15 members who are representative of
accomplished professionals in their field. A majority of standards committee members are practicing Board
certified teachers. Other committee members are experts in academic content and child development,
including teacher educators, researchers, and other professionals in the relevant field. Standards are
disseminated widely for public comment and subsequently revised as necessary before adoption by the
National Board’s Board of Directors.
Throughout the development of both the standards and the certification process, the National
Board ensures broad representation of the diversity that exists within the profession; engages pertinent
disciplinary and specialty associations at key points in the process; collaborates closely with appropriate
state agencies, academic institutions, and independent research and education organizations; and
establishes procedures to detect and eliminate instances of external and internal bias.
National Board Standards and certifications are defined by the developmental level of the students and
by the subject or subjects being taught. Teachers select the subject area that makes up the substantive
focus of their teaching. They may choose Generalist certificates if they do not focus on one particular
subject area in their practice. The four overlapping student developmental levels (listed below) indicate the
age of the majority of their students.
.. Early Childhood (EC)—ages 3–8
.. Middle Childhood (MC)—ages 7–12
.. Early Adolescence (EA)—ages 11–15
.. Adolescence and Young Adulthood (AYA)—ages 14–18+
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About Certification
National Board Certification® is a voluntary, standards-based process designed for teachers to
transform the Five Core Propositions into practice. In order to be eligible for certification a teacher must
.. Hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution ;
.. Have a minimum of three years’ teaching experience at the early childhood, elementary, middle
school, or high school level; and
.. Where it is required, hold a state teaching license.
1
The assessments, aligned with the Five Core Propositions and the standards, are designed so that
teachers demonstrate their practice by providing evidence of what they know and do. The evidencebased assessment honors the complexities and demands of teaching.
In 2014, the National Board initiated revision of the assessment to make the process more flexible,
affordable, and efficient for teachers. In all certificate areas, candidates for National Board Certification
are now required to complete four components: three portfolio entries, which are submitted online, and a
computer-based assessment, which is administered at a testing center. Teachers develop portfolio entries
that require analysis of their practice as it relates to student learning and to being a reflective, effective
practitioner. Designed to capture what a teacher knows and is able to do in real time and in real-life
settings, the portfolio consists of description, analysis, and reflection focused on student learning that is
captured on video and in student work samples. The process requires teachers to reflect on the underlying
assumptions of their practice and the impacts of that practice on student learning.
Teachers also demonstrate content knowledge by responding to open-ended and multiple choice
questions delivered at a secure testing site. The assessment center component complements the
portfolio, validates that the knowledge and skills exhibited in the portfolio are accurate reflections of what
a candidate knows, and provides candidates with opportunities to demonstrate knowledge and skills not
sampled in the portfolio.
Assessments are based on the standards and are developed for every certificate area by educators
who specialize in the same content and student developmental level as the candidates. Educators who are
themselves practitioners in the certificate area score the submitted portfolio entries. They must successfully
complete intensive training and qualify for scoring on the basis of their understanding of National Board
Standards and scoring guidelines.
1
Candidates registering for the Career and Technical Education certificate are required to hold a bachelor’s degree only if their
state required one for their current license.
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Foundation of National Board Certification
for Teachers
Five Core Propositions
The National Board framework for accomplished teaching was established in its 1989 publication,
What Teachers Should Know and Be Able to Do. The Five Core Propositions serve as the foundation
for all National Board standards and assessments, defining the level of knowledge, skills, abilities, and
commitments that accomplished teachers demonstrate. Teachers embody all Five Core Propositions in
their practices, drawing on various combinations of these skills, applications, and dispositions to promote
student learning.
1. Teachers are committed to students and their learning.
Accomplished teachers are dedicated to making knowledge accessible to all students. They act on
the belief that all students can learn. They treat students equitably, recognizing the individual differences
that distinguish their students from one another and taking account of these differences in their practice.
They adjust their practice, as appropriate, on the basis of observation and knowledge of their students’
interests, abilities, skills, knowledge, family circumstances, and peer relationships.
Accomplished teachers understand how students develop and learn. They incorporate the prevailing
theories of cognition and intelligence in their practice. They are aware of the influence of context and culture
on behavior. They develop students’ cognitive capacity and respect for learning. Equally important, they
foster students’ self-esteem; motivation; character; sense of civic responsibility; and respect for individual,
cultural, religious, and racial differences.
2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to
students.
Accomplished teachers have a rich understanding of the subject(s) they teach and appreciate how
knowledge in their subjects is created, organized, linked to other disciplines, and applied to real-world
settings. While faithfully representing the collective wisdom of our culture and upholding the value of
disciplinary knowledge, they also develop the critical and analytical capacities of their students.
Accomplished teachers command specialized knowledge of how to convey subject matter to students.
They are aware of the preconceptions and background knowledge that students typically bring to each
subject and of strategies and instructional resources that can be of assistance. Their instructional repertoire
allows them to create multiple paths to learning the subjects they teach, and they are adept at teaching
students how to pose and solve challenging problems.
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3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning.
Accomplished teachers create, enrich, maintain, and alter instructional settings to capture and sustain
the interest of their students. They make the most effective use of time in their instruction. They are adept
at engaging students and adults to assist their teaching and at making use of their colleagues’ knowledge
and expertise to complement their own.
Accomplished teachers command a range of instructional techniques and know when to employ them.
They are devoted to high-quality practice and know how to offer each student the opportunity to succeed.
Accomplished teachers know how to engage groups of students to ensure a disciplined learning
environment and how to organize instruction to meet the schools’ goals for students. They are adept at
setting norms of social interaction among students and between students and teachers. They understand
how to motivate students to learn and how to maintain their interest even in the face of temporary setbacks.
Accomplished teachers can assess the progress of individual students as well as that of the class as
a whole. They employ multiple methods for assessing student growth and understanding and can clearly
explain student performance to students, parents, and administrators.
4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience.
Accomplished teachers are models of educated persons, exemplifying the virtues they seek to inspire
in students—curiosity, tolerance, honesty, fairness, respect for diversity, and appreciation of cultural
differences. They demonstrate capacities that are prerequisites for intellectual growth—the ability to
reason, take multiple perspectives, be creative and take risks, and experiment and solve problems.
Accomplished teachers draw on their knowledge of human development, subject matter, and
instruction, and their understanding of their students, to make principled judgments about sound practice.
Their decisions are grounded not only in the literature of their fields but also in their experience. They
engage in lifelong learning, which they seek to encourage in their students.
Striving to strengthen their teaching, accomplished teachers examine their practice critically; expand
their repertoire; deepen their knowledge; sharpen their judgment; and adapt their teaching to new findings,
ideas, and theories.
5. Teachers are members of learning communities.
Accomplished teachers contribute to the effectiveness of the school by working collaboratively with
other professionals on instructional policy, curriculum development, and staff development. They can
evaluate school progress and the allocation of school resources in light of their understanding of state and
local educational objectives. They are knowledgeable about specialized school and community resources
that can be engaged for their students’ benefit, and they are skilled at employing such resources as
needed.
Accomplished teachers find ways to work collaboratively and creatively with parents, engaging them
productively in the work of the school.
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Architecture of Accomplished Teaching
The Architecture of Accomplished Teaching provides a view of how the use of the Five Core Propositions
and the standards that are developed from them result in student learning. As depicted in the Architecture
of Accomplished Teaching illustration, shown below, one strand represents teaching practice as grounded
in the Five Core Propositions, while the other strand represents the teacher’s impact on students and their
learning.
The National Board program certifies accomplished teachers who positively influence student learning
through effective teaching practice. The process includes the core propositions for all teachers, a common
set of accomplished teaching standards specific to the content field and students’ developmental levels,
and a set of evidence-based assessments specific to the field that certify what accomplished teachers
know and do.
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Standards
Introduction
Early and Middle Childhood Literacy: Reading–Language Arts teachers embark on an exciting and
rigorous task—teaching literacy to all learners. Literacy is fundamental for learning and social interaction,
and literacy teachers play a powerful role in activating the voice of each student. Teachers realize that all
students have a right to literacy because it is the vehicle by which people navigate through life. Literacy
teachers know that the complexity of literacy development begins before formal education is introduced
and continues throughout life. Teachers acknowledge that literacy originates during infancy when parents
sing, speak, and read to their babies. Literacy teachers take that foundation and seize the opportunities
that arise in the school setting to change the lives of children, to open their minds to new worlds, and to
help them gain meaning through literacy.
Literacy allows children to explore their own beliefs and the world around them. Teachers know how
to empower students to become meaning makers through multiple avenues. They guide students to
use literature to view their world from a variety of perspectives; they also teach students to examine and
understand the human condition. Accomplished teachers expand students’ thinking and their ability to
interact with the world by creating an environment in which students engage with literacies and learn to
appreciate the beauty and power of language.
Accomplished Literacy: Reading–Language Arts teachers recognize that literacy instruction involves
a complex pedagogy that encompasses a holistic, innovative approach designed to meet the needs
of diverse students in an ever-changing world. Teachers help children see the relevance of literacy by
personalizing instruction based on individual student interests and needs. Literacy teachers understand
that students need a strong foundation in literacy to become critical thinkers and productive citizens in a
democracy.
Accomplished teachers know what it means to be literate in a global society. They understand that
literacy is a social construct that is continually redefined by societal needs. They recognize that literacy is
crucial to their students’ future successes as learners as they grow into productive members of society.
Whereas literacy was once narrowly defined as the ability to read and write in the predominant language
of a culture, literacy has evolved to encompass reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing across a
variety of contexts, providing multiple ways of making meaning in the world.
The ability to read and write across a variety of texts is crucial within our information-saturated world.
Just as the definition of literacy has expanded, so too has the definition of what constitutes a text. Within
this document, the term “text” refers to various print and nonprint forms such as books, signs, images,
plays, films, and so on. Advances in technology continue to change the way we communicate, ever
expanding what it means to be literate. Accomplished teachers believe that students need to develop the
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ability to critically interpret the world in which they live. Teachers strive to empower their students to use
their literacy skills to explore issues of social justice.
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts teachers are committed to students and their literacy learning.
They recognize that literacy learning occurs on a continuum and that learners possess a wide range of
literacy skills. Because literacy learners develop at varying rates, it is imperative that teachers possess a
deep understanding of the developmental patterns and ranges of literacy skills of children from toddlers
to young adolescents. Literacy teachers value students’ energy and eagerness and skillfully provide
engaging opportunities that facilitate literacy learning. They know that literacy does not begin or end with
formal schooling, and they value students’ home literacy experiences. Teachers recognize the diverse
needs of all student populations, and they plan for and provide differentiated instruction tailored to meet
individual needs. Literacy: Reading–Language Arts teachers artfully orchestrate interventions for struggling
learners as well as enrichments for accelerated learners, building on students’ strengths and backgrounds.
Accomplished teachers recognize the need for a balanced, integrated, and comprehensive approach to
teaching literacy in order to best support the needs of all learners as they grow to independence.
Literacy teachers possess a deep knowledge of the processes of the language arts—reading, writing,
listening, speaking, and viewing; they also understand how to teach literacy to students. They recognize the
ways in which the separate literacy strands are intertwined, and they comprehend the interconnectedness
of the language arts and all of the content areas. Literacy teachers combine their content knowledge with
effective techniques to teach the skills and strategies necessary for student learning. They understand
that instruction is based on the individual needs of students, as opposed to believing in a one-size-fitsall approach. They identify gaps and misconceptions that students may have in respect to literacy, and
they use all relevant information to systematically plan instruction. As a result, accomplished teachers
organize their learning environment to be conducive to literacy development, creatively integrating literacy
across the curriculum and utilizing assistive and instructional technology, when appropriate. Through their
understanding of the processes of the language arts and their recognition that literacy is the backbone
of life and learning, teachers enable students to transform themselves into self-regulated, independent,
lifelong learners.
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts teachers are committed to managing and monitoring the growth and
literacy learning of their students. Accomplished teachers are keen observers. They create an engaging
environment that promotes literacy learning for all students. They establish consistent routines and skillfully
manage transitions to optimize students’ opportunities for learning. They effectively utilize a variety of
ongoing formal and informal assessments to monitor the individual progress of their students, the class
as a whole, and their own professional practice. They use data for curriculum decision-making such
as planning for interventions and enrichments. Accomplished teachers recognize the importance of
communicating with students, parents, colleagues, and other stakeholders as they manage and monitor
student learning.
Accomplished teachers think systematically about their literacy practices, and they learn from
experience in order to refine their teaching. These educators are role models for students; they embody
what it means to be a literate, reflective individual through reading, writing, listening, speaking, and
viewing. Accomplished teachers cyclically reflect as they plan and design literacy instruction. They seek to
improve their knowledge and practice through reflection, professional development, and collaboration with
colleagues, and also by mentoring, conducting their own research, making professional contributions,
and being members of learning communities. Literacy teachers recognize that reading, writing, listening,
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speaking, and viewing are interconnected and interdependent with every content area. They understand
that literacy is more than a set of discrete skills, and they comprehend that students’ growth depends on
their mastery of literacy skills. Moreover, accomplished teachers acknowledge their ethical responsibilities
in regard to teaching literacy. They reflect on issues of equity, fairness, and diversity. Thus, they are reflective
problem-solvers and decision-makers in their field.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers are proactive literacy leaders and members
of learning communities. They believe in a strong partnership with students, colleagues, families, and
other stakeholders. They encourage parents to actively participate in their children’s literacy development,
and they communicate frequently with parents about their children’s progress. Accomplished teachers
are committed to the continued growth and development of the field of literacy. As literacy leaders, they
collaborate with their colleagues on curriculum issues that affect their day-to-day instruction as well as
on other topics of importance to the field of literacy instruction. They also partner with other stakeholders
to enhance student learning. Literacy teachers read professionally, reflect on their practice, and share
new knowledge both locally and globally through the use of new technologies. Accomplished teachers
incorporate current research in order to develop innovative methods that positively impact student learning.
They are advocates for the profession, their students, and high-quality literacy practices.
When the previous edition of Early and Middle Childhood/Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards
was published, literacy experts, with thoughtfulness and forward thinking, established rigorous standards
describing the essential components of literacy instruction. Since then, the field of literacy: reading–
language arts has changed and expanded. Effective teaching practices remain intact; what has expanded
is the knowledge of how teachers build strategic literacy learners. Through research and collaboration,
literacy educators have learned more about how to intentionally differentiate literacy instruction to meet
the needs of all learners. Accomplished teachers deliberately create a rich learning environment and help
students create and convey the meaning of their world. A world steeped in new and various forms of
literacy has raised teachers’ responsibility and accountability to ensure that students have the necessary
skills to navigate various forms of media. The current edition reflects, responds to, and addresses this
continual evolution of literacy.
The standards committee revised the standards document based on current research and practice.
The committee condensed the 15 standards from the previous document into 13 in the current edition.
The separate standards entitled Instructional Decision-Making and Instructional Resources were combined
into a single standard entitled Instruction to demonstrate their interdependence. Elements of the standard
entitled Knowledge of the Field of Literacy were purposefully interspersed throughout the new standards
document in order to emphasize specific knowledge within each of the content-focused standards of
Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, and Viewing and Visualization. Some standards were renamed.
The standard entitled Teacher as Learner was retitled Teacher as Learner and Reflective Practitioner to
highlight the value and importance of reflection. The standard entitled Integration was changed to Literacy
Across the Curriculum to reflect a more global understanding of curriculum integration. The concept of
integration was also emphasized in each content-focused standard to show how reading, writing, listening,
speaking, and viewing mutually reinforce each other. Viewing was expanded and renamed Viewing and
Visual Literacy to parallel a world in which the students need to connect their literacy learning with media
and emerging technologies in order to become critical producers and consumers.
Throughout the standards, the committee placed greater emphasis on certain educational principles.
These principles include: differentiating instruction as an essential method to meet a variety of needs, such
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards
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as those related to cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic status; embracing diversity, equity, and fairness
by going beyond awareness to becoming change agents for social reform; expanding the concept of
texts beyond print forms to forms such as visual and multimedia texts; emphasizing the importance of
working with data to reflect on teaching; and finally, expanding the idea of the learning environment,
both by addressing it in a separate standard and by making references throughout the document to
the importance of the environment to literacy learning. No single standard has greater importance when
compared to another; rather, when the standards are viewed holistically, they become a powerful guide to
and indicator of accomplished teaching.
Teachers are invited to systematically review these rigorous standards for improving literacy instruction
and are encouraged to thoughtfully consider the elements that make up accomplished literacy teaching.
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards represents an ideal vision of the knowledge, dispositions,
and skills that define accomplished practice—an ideal towards which all literacy teachers should strive. By
understanding the various elements that encompass literacy, reflecting on individual teaching practices,
seeking additional resources, and collaborating with others as described in these standards, teachers will
gain a comprehensive view of how implementation of these standards will directly and positively impact
the literacy learning of all students.
Developing High and Rigorous Standards for Accomplished Practice
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards describes what accomplished teachers should know and
be able to do. The standards are meant to reflect the professional consensus at this point about the
essential aspects of accomplished practice. The deliberations of the Literacy: Reading–Language Arts
Standards Committee were informed by various national and state initiatives on student and teacher
standards that have been operating concurrently with the development of NBPTS Standards. As the
understanding of teaching and learning continues to evolve over the next several years, these standards
will be updated again.
An essential tension of describing accomplished practice concerns the difference between the
analysis and the practice of teaching. The former tends to fragment the profession into any number of
discrete duties, such as designing learning activities, providing quality explanation, modeling, managing
the classroom, and monitoring student progress. Teaching as it actually occurs, on the other hand, is a
seamless activity.
Everything an accomplished teacher knows through study, research, and experience is brought to bear
daily in the classroom through innumerable decisions that shape learning. Teaching frequently requires
balancing the demands of several important educational goals. It depends on accurate observations of
particular students and settings, and it is subject to revision on the basis of continuing developments in
the classroom.
The paradox, then, is that any attempt to write standards that dissect what accomplished teachers
know and are able to do will, to a certain extent, misrepresent the holistic nature of how teaching
actually takes place. Nevertheless, the fact remains: Certain identifiable commonalties characterize the
accomplished practice of teachers. The standards that follow are designed to capture the knowledge,
artistry, proficiency, and understandings—both deep and broad—that contribute to the complex work that
is accomplished teaching.
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The Standards Format
Accomplished teaching appears in many different forms, and it should be acknowledged at the outset
that these specific standards are not the only way it could have been described. No linearity, atomization,
or hierarchy is implied in this vision of accomplished teaching, nor is each standard of equal weight. Rather,
the standards are presented as aspects of teaching that are analytically separable for the purposes of this
standards document but that are not discrete when they appear in practice.
Standard Statement—This is a succinct statement of one vital aspect of the practice of the accomplished
literacy: reading–language arts teacher. Each standard is expressed in terms of observable teacher
actions that have an impact on students.
Elaboration—This passage provides a context for the standard, along with an explanation of what
teachers need to know, value, and do if they are to fulfill the standard. The elaboration includes
descriptions of teacher dispositions toward students, their distinctive roles and responsibilities, and
their stances on a range of ethical and intellectual issues that regularly confront them.
In addition, throughout the document are examples illustrating accomplished practice and demonstrating
how decisions integrate various individual considerations and cut across the standard document. If the
standards pull apart accomplished teaching into discrete elements, the examples put them back together
in ways more clearly recognizable to teachers. Because the National Board believes there is no single
“right” way to teach students, these examples are meant to encourage teachers to demonstrate their own
best practice.
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Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards Statements
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has organized the standards for accomplished
teachers of literacy: reading–language arts into the following thirteen standards. The standards have been
ordered to facilitate understanding, not to assign priorities. They each describe an important facet of
accomplished teaching; they often occur concurrently because of the seamless quality of accomplished
practice. These standards serve as the basis for National Board Certification in Early and Middle Childhood/
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts.
Standard I: Knowledge of Learners
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers draw on their
relationships with students as well as their knowledge of literacy and child development to acquire
knowledge of their students as intellectual, social, emotional, cultural, and language learners.
Standard II: Equity, Fairness, and Diversity
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers practice equity
and fairness; they value diversity and diverse perspectives. They teach all students to know and respect
themselves and others and to use literacy practices to promote social justice.
Standard III: Learning Environment
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers establish a caring,
supportive, inclusive, challenging, democratic, and safe learning community in which students take
intellectual, social, and emotional risks while working both independently and collaboratively.
Standard IV: Instruction
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers employ rich
instructional resources and provide instruction that is tailored to the unique needs of students in order to
foster inquiry; facilitate learning; and build strategic, independent thinkers who understand the power of
language.
Standard V: Assessment
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers use a range of
ongoing formal and informal assessment methods and strategies to gather data in order to shape and
drive instructional decisions; monitor individual student progress; guide student self-assessment; gather
information to communicate to various audiences; and engage in ongoing reflection.
Standard VI: Reading
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers use their knowledge
of the reading processes, of their students, and of the dynamic connections within the other language arts
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards
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to create effective instruction so that all readers construct meaning and develop an enduring appreciation
of reading.
Standard VII: Writing
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers use their knowledge
of writing processes, language acquisition, writing development, and ongoing assessment to provide
authentic and relevant instruction that prepares students to write for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Standard VIII: Listening and Speaking
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers know, value, and
teach oral language development, listening, and both verbal and nonverbal communication skills as
essential components of literacy, and they provide opportunities for all students to listen and speak for a
variety of purposes and audiences.
Standard IX: Viewing and Visual Literacy
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers know, value, and
teach viewing and visual literacy as essential components of literacy instruction in order to prepare students
to interpret and interact with an increasingly visual world.
Standard X: Literacy Across the Curriculum
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers understand the
reciprocal and interrelated nature of the literacy processes of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and
viewing and engage students in language arts processes in all disciplines.
Standard XI: Teacher as Learner and Reflective Practitioner
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers seek to improve
their knowledge and practice through a recursive process of learning and reflecting.
Standard XII: Collaboration with Families and Communities
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers develop positive
and mutually supportive relationships with family and community members to achieve common goals for
the literacy education of all students.
Standard XIII: Professional Responsibility
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers actively contribute
to the improvement of literacy teaching and learning and to the advancement of literacy knowledge and
practice for the profession.
I
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards
KNOWLEDGE OF LEARNERS
Standard I
Knowledge of Learners
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers draw on their relationships with students as
well as their knowledge of literacy and child development to acquire
knowledge of their students as intellectual, social, emotional,
cultural, and language learners.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers1 are committed
to knowing each student as an individual learner. Accomplished teachers have a
thorough understanding of current research and theories about learning and child
development, and they possess a deep and rich store of content knowledge and
instructional strategies, all of which lend perspective to their instructional decisions.
To complement this framework, teachers strive to acquire a particular understanding
of each of their students as an intellectual, social, emotional, cultural, and literate
individual. They gain this knowledge by closely watching, listening to, and conversing
with all students, and by seeking information about each student’s home culture,
family, and community life. These teachers then apply their knowledge of students’
individual histories to help determine what kinds of learning experiences will most
benefit each student. Accomplished literacy teachers are aware that within diverse
categories of student populations, a wide range of achievement and ability still
exists. Teachers understand that there are also many individual variations in levels
of academic performance and English proficiency within groups that are sometimes
perceived as homogeneous. Therefore, accomplished teachers take these factors
into account and make provisions in their instruction. Moreover, they adhere to the
goals and accommodations within individualized educational plans for students with
exceptional needs, and they extend their instruction for the optimal learning of these
students.
Understanding Learning and Child Development Theories
Accomplished teachers have a thorough knowledge of current theories about
how students develop and learn, and they understand the implications of these
theories for literacy development. Teachers know that students learn by building on
background knowledge and by encountering new concepts. They also recognize
that learning is a social process and that students need multiple opportunities to
1
All references to teachers in this document, whether stated explicitly or not, refer to accomplished
early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language arts teachers. These include general
education and special services teachers, reading and literacy specialists, administrators, and
others actively engaged in teaching reading–language arts.
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discuss ideas with their teacher and peers, using language as a tool for constructing
meaning.
Accomplished teachers have a thorough knowledge of current child development
theories, including knowledge about cognitive, social, affective, and physical
developmental patterns; they have knowledge of the latest relevant research. Teachers
use their understanding of major theories of child development as a foundation for
their observations, analyses, and decision-making processes.
Accomplished teachers recognize that a child’s development is a highly individual
process which is influenced by a variety of factors, both in and out of school. They
recognize that although students’ language acquisition and literacy development,
including the acquisition of new languages, occur along a continuum, they do not
always take place in a series of predictable, linear steps. Literacy teachers recognize
that children’s knowledge, skills, and abilities emerge over time in dynamic and
purposeful ways.
Accomplished teachers create a safe learning environment,1 knowing that students
may be subject to circumstances beyond the control of the school and their families,
which can affect a student’s literacy development. For example, a student may have
experienced traumatic events such as war, natural disaster, or personal loss. Literacy
teachers determine where a particular student is in the developmental process
and where the student needs to progress; and teachers provide the appropriate
contexts, instructional engagements, learning opportunities, and materials, coupled
with purposeful support, to maximize students’ learning.
Knowing Each Student as an Intellectual, Social, Emotional,
Cultural, and Language Learner
Accomplished teachers understand that early and middle childhood learners
are naturally inquisitive and want to make sense of the world. Children constantly
explore new ideas, relate these ideas to their previous understandings, construct
hypotheses, and test their theories. Students in the early and middle childhood
years want to connect to their peers, teachers, and members of their school, local,
and global communities. These teachers know that students value interaction with
others partly as a way of confirming or challenging what they already know. Literacy
teachers structure students’ interactions to be positive and productive, leading to
new insights, understandings, and questions. They engage students’ natural curiosity
about the world to help students acquire and then flexibly apply the tools and skills
they will need in order to become independent, self-regulated meaning-makers and
language users.
1
In this document, terms such as classroom, learning environment, and instructional setting are
used interchangeably. The terms are intended to be inclusive of whole-class, pullout, and other
reading–language arts teaching contexts.
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Accomplished teachers understand that children learn at an early age that
language is a medium for finding out more about the world and about communicating
with others and that children come to school with diverse language and literacy
backgrounds. Literacy teachers use many strategies for learning about students,
including formal and informal interviews with students and their families; conversations
with students’ current or previous teachers or other appropriate specialists; reviews,
if possible, of language arts portfolios from previous years; and their own ongoing
formal and informal assessment practices. They know how to access and interpret
data to provide a foundation for student learning. (See Standard V—Assessment and
Standard XII—Collaboration with Families and Communities.) They know when to
seek assistance from colleagues who have particular areas of expertise or knowledge
of students’ backgrounds.
Accomplished teachers realize that students, both English language learners and
native English speakers, have varying degrees of prior exposure to oral and written
language. Some have been read to from infancy and have an easy familiarity with
books and the conventions of print by school age. Others come from households
whose members practice a rich oral tradition but do not habitually interact with printed
text. Literacy teachers understand that some students come from national, regional,
or socioeconomic backgrounds in which children have spoken with family members
from earliest memory. Others arrive at school having had less prior experience with
conversation. Teachers are aware that some of their students may have acquired
important life skills, but not necessarily the attributes that will privilege them in a
school setting.
Accomplished teachers know that English language learners possess a range of
literacy skills, educational backgrounds, and linguistic foundations. Some have had
no formal schooling; others have had interrupted formal schooling; and still others
had continuous formal schooling in other countries. English language learners may
be proficient in languages other than English, or they may not have developed gradelevel literacy proficiency in their first language. Teachers do not make assumptions
about students’ prior literacy experiences; rather, they make the effort to learn about
each student’s familiarity with language and then intentionally provide students with
rich oral and print language experiences through differentiated instruction.
Accomplished teachers have an awareness of popular culture which they use to
connect with students’ out-of-school literacy practices; they also develop proficiency
with current and emergent technologies in order to connect with their students.
Literacy teachers understand how to use media to engage visual, auditory, tactile,
and kinesthetic modalities in the learning process. Teachers understand that because
many media are multi-sensory, they promote holistic learning. Skillful use of media in
the classroom promotes learning that flows seamlessly from the literal to the deeply
conceptual, thus increasing students’ critical thinking skills.
Accomplished teachers are aware of the inequity that exists in regard to students’
access to technology. In the cases of students who have been surrounded by
technology, teachers capitalize on their knowledge and expertise. In the cases of
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students who are less familiar with technology, teachers try to increase access
and model related skills and provide meaningful engagements with a variety of
technologies.
Accomplished teachers perceive students’ individual attributes as strengths.
They recognize students’ cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and family backgrounds;
their interests, goals, and expectations for themselves; their prior dispositions
toward school and learning; any exceptionalities that may have a bearing on their
learning; their prior experiences; and any physical, medical, behavioral or emotional
considerations related to literacy. Literacy teachers then use their knowledge of
children to differentiate learning experiences for individual students, small groups,
and whole class instruction. (See Standard III—Learning Environment.) For example,
in the case of a student who has difficulty with written expression, the teacher
encourages oral expression while carefully planning to support the student’s growth
in writing. Teachers know how to create a secure, supportive learning environment
that encourages each student to meet high expectations.
Accomplished teachers know that students’ specific language abilities and literacy
backgrounds have important implications for the kinds of learning activities that will
benefit students most directly. Accordingly, they place a high priority on becoming
aware of the characteristics of their students and then capitalize on students’ strengths
and interests. They get to know their students as individuals, familiarizing themselves
with attributes central to students’ identities. For example, they know how to best
use student questionnaires and interest inventories in order to gain knowledge about
students’ out-of-school interests. They discover what—or whether—their students
read for pleasure. They find out how their students perceive themselves as readers,
writers, listeners, speakers, and viewers—that is, as interpreters and composers of
a wide range of texts. Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers
use their knowledge of individual students for the optimal impact of student literacy
learning.
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Standard II
Equity, Fairness, and Diversity
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers practice equity and fairness; they value
diversity and diverse perspectives. They teach all students to know
and respect themselves and others and to use literacy practices to
promote social justice.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers make a commitment
to the success of all their students. As they teach and interact with students,
they are deliberately mindful of students’ language background, culture, ethnicity,
race, nationality, gender, body image, household income, religious affiliation, family
configuration, sexual orientation, physical or psychological exceptionalities, and
literacy experience. Literacy teachers have a welcoming attitude and are eager to work
with each of their students and families. Their approach to teaching invites students
of all cultures and backgrounds to become engaged in learning. Accomplished
teachers know and act upon the belief that each of their students is an individual
learner and that the learning backgrounds of the students in a single classroom or a
particular instructional setting are an asset and represent a tremendous wealth and
diversity of human experience.
Accomplished teachers are committed to principles of fairness and equity and
to providing all their students with the resources they need to develop as literacy
learners and as inquisitive, informed, and responsible individuals. Teachers maintain
high expectations for all students and ensure that all of them receive equitable
opportunities to learn and advance. Teachers encourage the development of each
student’s individual voice, in part through the emphasis on and the modeling of
democratic values. Literacy teachers further understand that each student’s growth
as an individual is best supported by full membership in a collaborative learning
community in which teachers and students show sensitivity and respect for one
another and by full participation in a challenging, meaning-centered curriculum.
Teachers view a diverse learning community as a valued learning context for their
students and themselves. Accomplished teachers help students become aware of
their own biases and overcome them in a safe environment.
Promoting Fairness and Equity
Accomplished teachers are aware of the issues related to fairness and equity in
literacy instruction. Teachers recognize that the needs of students differ dramatically,
and they are aware of issues of bias in instructional and assessment practices.
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Teachers hold themselves accountable for advancing equity in their classrooms in
a variety of ways. They design instructionally sound activities for individual learners,
and they fairly allocate instructional resources, including one-on-one attention.
Literacy teachers ensure that all students are equitably engaged in high-quality
curricula, and teachers set expectations that challenge all students to improve their
learning, continually moving toward greater complexity and breadth. These teachers
expect all students to exercise fairness and equity as they engage with others in the
classroom. If an issue arises, they talk with older students about the use of words
from popular culture that may be offensive to certain groups of people. Teachers
address issues such as gender equity in the classroom. For example, they might
read to their students fairy tales featuring strong female characters or family stories in
which the father is the primary caretaker.
Accomplished teachers know that fairness means more than treating all students
equally; it involves knowing students as individuals and adjusting instruction and
learning resources to meet their particular requirements. Teachers are aware of the
range of student abilities, needs, and academic progress. They know that many
students have particular cognitive, social, emotional, cultural, linguistic, or physical
needs and exceptionalities, including subtle or undiagnosed impairments. Teachers
seek to provide instruction or acquire the services necessary to meet each student’s
needs in an accepting, nurturing, and supportive way. They teach to students’
individual strengths using differentiated instruction, and they incorporate students’
interests to form a solid base for helping students acquire the skills they need to
succeed in society. For example, teachers of students with hearing impairments
understand the challenges these students face in hearing sounds within words and
in pronouncing words, and they design explicit instruction to develop these skills by
using visual and tactile materials. Teachers create a learning community that solicits
and respects the contributions of each student, regardless of academic, language,
and developmental skill level. Teachers deliberately collaborate with parents to
understand the unique needs of every child.
Accomplished teachers meet the unique needs of all students as literacy learners.
Teachers make full use of a wealth of literacy resources that exist in the classroom,
school, and community to help develop students’ literacy skills. Literacy teachers
may also design and adapt materials to meet student needs. Additionally, teachers
advocate for students to receive the time, type of curriculum, and instructional
approaches they need to become fully proficient in the complex uses of English.
They support all students who struggle to acquire literacy skills, including students
with exceptional needs.
Accomplished teachers make special efforts to meet the needs of students for
whom English is a new language. They understand that the acquisition of English
as a new language—in particular, the process of gaining confident control of the
more academic uses of language—may take several years to achieve and should
not be confused with the language acquisition and grade level expectations of
native speakers of English. When possible and appropriate, teachers support use of
parallel instruction in a student’s primary language. Teachers also help students who
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are literate in another language transfer their literacy skills to English. Furthermore,
teachers collaborate with colleagues and seek out professional resources to assist
with specific challenges and to meet all students’ needs in differentiated and equitable
ways.
Accomplished teachers regard students for whom English is a new language as
assets for the entire learning community and as resources from whom all learners
can benefit while investigating languages and cultures. Teachers adjust their practice
to assist students who are learning English. Teachers know that acquiring a new
language requires the willingness to take risks, so they work consistently to create a
classroom culture in which students learning English feel safe, respected, and valued.
When students begin to speak in English, teachers concentrate on understanding
what they have to say and respond to that intention, while respectfully modeling
grammatical accuracy. Literacy teachers are familiar with the stages of new language
acquisition, and they know how to provide support and curriculum adaptations for
students at each of these stages. Teachers regularly ascertain whether students for
whom English is a new language understand what is transpiring in the classroom.
Accomplished teachers discuss the nature and consequences of the unethical
use of communication tools. They point out that unethical use can be detrimental and
has the potential for significant negative impact on a student’s future. For example,
they make their students aware of how poor choices in the use of technology can
affect them and their peers, including legal consequences, ostracism, physical and
emotional harm, and self destructive behaviors.
Accomplished teachers are committed to fairness and equity with regard to the
use of media and technology. They provide equitable access to technology in their
classrooms for both initial learning and enrichment experiences. Teachers also try to
compensate for any lack of prior experience with technology. They are aware that
some students who live in rural settings may have limited access to technology at
home; therefore, teachers attempt to provide these students with as much access
to technology in the school as possible. Literacy teachers also confront their own
possible bias with regard to students’ uses of technology in their work. They assess
students’ work fairly; for example, they do not favor a student’s writing assignment
because it contains sophisticated graphics available only on a home computer.
Promoting Diversity
Accomplished teachers value diversity and appreciate the many facets of diversity
students bring to the classroom, including language background, culture, ethnicity,
race, nationality, gender, body image, household income, religious affiliation, family
configuration, sexual orientation, physical or psychological exceptionalities, and
literacy experience. Literacy teachers understand that diversity extends beyond
outward appearance; diversity encompasses every aspect of who people are,
what they think, and what they do. Teachers are conscious of their own cultural
backgrounds, and they analyze the ways that their cultural perspectives affect their
interactions with students. Accomplished teachers also examine how their and other
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teachers’ perspectives shape students’ interactions with one another and students’
interpretations of texts. For example, accomplished teachers do not limit students’
play activities or reading selections based on their gender. Accomplished teachers
understand that the larger global community is increasingly interconnected, and
they are aware that familiarity and comfort with diversity will help students function
successfully in the future.
Accomplished teachers establish a climate of respect in their classrooms by
daily modeling for students a respect and understanding of differences. They help
students to understand and apply the democratic principles of freedom, justice, and
equity; and they help them to recognize discrimination, prejudice, and stereotypes
when they appear in the classroom, in literature, and elsewhere. Teachers design
and implement lessons that help students develop awareness of, sensitivity to, and
respect for others. For example, accomplished teachers are aware that children
may begin to question their sexual identity at a young age. Teachers know that
acceptance of their curiosity will make them feel safe and secure. In such instances,
teachers may feature children’s literature in which diverse gender roles are portrayed.
Literacy teachers also constructively challenge discriminatory or disrespectful
behavior whenever it occurs and whatever population is targeted. For example, if
students engage in sexual harassment or bullying in any form or context, teachers
do more than step in and offer practical support related to the specific situations;
they also use literature and technological resources as a means to extinguish these
kinds of behaviors by discussing with students the root causes of bullying as well
as discussing acceptable solutions. Accomplished teachers are proactive in helping
students understand the power of language to build respect and rapport.
Accomplished teachers ensure that when they make references to diversity as
part of instruction, those references are authentic and relevant to their students. They
choose literature and other learning resources that reflect a wide array of differences
among people. They seek multiple perspectives and solutions when examining social
issues with their students. Teachers highlight past and present events relating to
issues of diversity as a way to promote students’ understanding of how they function
in a diverse world. Literacy teachers help their students take the step beyond
awareness and acceptance of diversity to becoming advocates for social justice in
a pluralistic, democratic society. For example, as teachers discuss problems relating
to social justice with their older students, they might assign an essay in which their
students respond to instances of racial profiling. Teachers of younger students might
have their students read books about homelessness.
Accomplished teachers are sensitive to their students as members of cultures;
they are aware of the influence culture has on what students expect of themselves,
how students use language, and how students learn. Teachers understand the
importance of respecting and seeking to understand the cultural norms, resources,
and knowledge students bring from home. Teachers know that cultural perspectives
vary in regard to social interaction. For example, they know that in some cultures,
it is considered rude for a child to make direct eye contact with an adult and that
hand gestures considered acceptable in one culture can have negative meanings in
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another. Literacy teachers actively examine their assumptions about students’ ethics,
cultures, home environments, values, and access to technology. They understand
that every culture encompasses its own diversity, and they know that many students’
backgrounds are a blend of different cultures. Teachers respect home languages
and vernacular speech, and they recognize the various dialects found in the United
States. They understand that non-standard uses of language are not wrong, just
different. They know that dialect is a culturally appropriate way of making meaning
through language, that it serves the same communicative function as any other kind
of language, and that its use often signals membership in a group and therefore
is accompanied by powerful and emotional associations. Accordingly, teachers
proceed sensitively in the area of promoting students’ abilities to use standard
English. They do not try to eliminate dialectal variation in their classrooms. Rather,
they help students recognize and appreciate various language patterns and discover
what speech patterns are appropriate in various settings. They also provide access to
models of standard English for all students, often through their own use of language.
Accomplished teachers are clear and well-spoken oral communicators who know
the rules of English grammar, syntax, and usage and employ these rules in their daily
conversations.
Accomplished teachers go beyond a literacy curriculum that celebrates diversity
only through heroes and holidays. Rather, teachers carefully and deliberately choose
texts and other resources that draw from a variety of literary and cultural traditions
and that promote positive images of different ethnicities, cultures, exceptionalities,
genders, and languages. They use texts and resources that authentically represent
these examples of diversity, including some that are created by individuals who
represent these groups. When interpreting materials, accomplished teachers help
students become aware of the particular cultural view presented in a text; call attention
to the use of dialect or to social conventions; and promote an analytical discussion
of the social and ethical issues involved. Literacy teachers are aware of materials
that portray stereotypes. They teach students to critically examine print and nonprint
texts in which issues of power, equity, and justice are portrayed. For example, in
the media and in books, some populations may be portrayed in a negative light;
therefore, accomplished teachers are prepared to address the history behind such
stereotypes and to help students challenge them.
Accomplished teachers understand that students have their own personal
identities and perspectives. They actively encourage the expression and celebration
of individuality among their students. Teachers frequently arrange students in
heterogeneous small groups to bring those from different backgrounds and ability
levels into close contact with one another.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers view literacy
instruction as an opportunity to respect diversity, promote fairness, and work toward
equity. They foster in their students an ability to examine multiple perspectives that
encourage mutual respect for themselves, their peers, and members of local and
global communities.
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Standard III
Learning Environment
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers establish a caring, supportive, inclusive,
challenging, democratic, and safe learning community in which
students take intellectual, social, and emotional risks while working
both independently and collaboratively.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers know that a healthy
and constructive emotional, physical, and intellectual tone in the classroom is
essential to fostering successful literacy learning for all students. These teachers
intentionally work to create an environment in which all students have a place as
valued members of the learning community. Accomplished teachers create positive
affective environments in which children feel free to take risks as they expand their
approximations of literacy and explore language found in texts, various media, and the
world around them. They also create comfortable, appealing, and efficient physical
environments for literacy learning. Literacy teachers know that intellectual literacy
learning environments are well managed, offering an array of academic activities
that are highly engaging to students and that promote student independence.
Accomplished teachers demonstrate a sincere interest in students, families,
colleagues, and all stakeholders. These teachers structure their environments by
genuinely making everyone feel welcomed, valued, and respected as an integral part
of the classroom. Teachers’ attitudes encourage collaboration and respect and are
optimal for literacy learning. They are masterful at creating a learning environment
that promotes literacy learning.
Establishing the Affective Environment
Accomplished teachers foster a sense of community, inclusion, and purposefulness
about learning among their students in many ways, but primarily through the
examples they set. They are personally friendly and welcoming in their interactions
with all their students. They listen carefully and dignify each student’s contribution
with attentiveness and thoughtful responses. They are interested in their students’
ideas, lives, and activities; enthusiastic in support of their students’ initiatives; and
generous in their recognition of a wide variety of students’ accomplishments and
positive behaviors. They use a sense of humor to enliven the instructional day, even
as they communicate an underlying seriousness about the importance of learning.
They firmly believe that all their students are capable of growing in their knowledge
of the world and in terms of their competence in reading, writing, listening, speaking,
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and viewing. Accomplished teachers maintain high expectations for the success of
each student.
Accomplished teachers understand the relationship between the classroom
environment and a student’s ability to learn. They know that safety is essential
for learning, and they strive to ensure that learning environments are physically,
intellectually, and emotionally safe for students. In the classroom of an accomplished
teacher, each student feels valued and respected by the teacher and by peers. Above
all, the teacher creates an inclusive environment that promotes a sense of security for
every individual in the classroom.
Accomplished teachers address student behavior by using foresight and by
setting clear expectations. In some cases, students and teachers collaborate in setting
standards and expectations in order to promote students’ sense of ownership of
the learning environment. Literacy teachers explicitly teach procedures and routines
that foster harmony. When disciplinary action is necessary, teachers act promptly
and respectfully, focusing on a particular problematic behavior rather than assigning
general blame. Teachers anticipate situations that may provoke a negative reaction
and know how to prevent or mitigate adverse effects. Accomplished teachers
respond skillfully to instances when the classroom is disrupted by external events.
These teachers deal effectively with assemblies, rehearsals, drills, loudspeaker
announcements, and other interruptions, and, when appropriate, relate these
interruptions to classroom activities.
Accomplished teachers are committed to ensuring that students with exceptional
needs are an integral part of the learning community. Teachers are knowledgeable
about when and how to use support services, blending them into the classroom
where possible. Reading specialists collaborate with classroom teachers to ensure
that students’ reading skills and strategies are reinforced in both classroom and other
settings. Literacy teachers form partnerships with colleagues to benefit all students
with exceptional needs, whether they remain in the classroom or receive instructional
services in a separate area. For example, the teacher and the interpreter for a student
who is deaf might collaborate to ensure that the student is actively involved with
peers throughout the day. When certain students routinely miss classroom instruction
for part of the school day, teachers remain committed to fostering their overall
development. For example, when students with exceptional needs receive extra
support outside the classroom, the teacher acknowledges them upon their return
and helps reengage each student through conversation, regular routines, organizing
visuals, or with the assistance of class helpers when the teacher is occupied with
another student or group. In addition, resource and classroom teachers collaborate
to plan lessons that carry over from one context to another and to ensure manageable
amounts of work for students who receive extra support.
Establishing the Physical Environment
Accomplished teachers realize that physical surroundings have powerful
implications for learning. Therefore, whether they have their own classrooms or travel
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to different areas of the school building to provide instruction, literacy teachers make
effective use of available resources and collaborate with colleagues to optimize the
physical environment for all students.
Accomplished teachers make deliberate choices about the physical environment,
considering such aspects as color, lighting, and décor. Teachers know that the
physical setting of the classroom, including the arrangement of furniture, the choice
of materials, and the displays, can help support and extend student learning,
engagement, and growth. The classrooms of accomplished literacy teachers are
replete with student-generated work such as anchor charts, writing exemplars, and
artwork as well as photos of the students to ensure they feel part of the classroom
community. Literacy teachers may display many functional messages in English as
well as in the home languages of students for whom English is a new language.
Accomplished teachers involve students in modifying and maintaining the classroom
environment, rearranging it as needed to keep pace with assorted instructional
engagements and student learning. For example, a teacher might invite students
to help set up the dramatic play area or hold a class meeting to discuss how to
rearrange furniture to organize the classroom library.
Accomplished teachers arrange the physical environment to ensure that students
with exceptional needs are an integral part of the classroom learning community.
Teachers know that in the case of a student with physical challenges, the physical
organization of the classroom has a great impact on the student’s ability to move
around. The teacher is therefore purposeful about the layout of the classroom and
any potential hindrances. Additionally, accomplished teachers are intentional about
making instructional resources easily accessible for students with exceptional needs.
Accomplished teachers provide frequent opportunities for students to learn from
each other as well as from the teacher. Teachers express their thoughts and ideas
in ways that are clearly understood by their students. Teachers understand that
communication is a two-way process; they are expert listeners and can interpret
what students mean. Literacy teachers coach students in the giving and receiving of
constructive feedback and help students value one another’s ideas. They model and
teach active listening, showing how it is an important part of effective communication
in general and constructive feedback in particular. Accomplished teachers
purposefully plan opportunities for students to discuss and reflect on their learning
to promote positive social interactions, which may include classroom meetings and
peer mediation.
A student in the classroom of an accomplished teacher moves through a variety
of learning settings—whole-class, small collaborative group, paired, and individual—
in the course of the instructional day. Accomplished teachers create spaces that
are conducive to whole-group, small-group, and independent learning. Groups are
created as learning needs arise and modified or disbanded as needs change. Literacy
teachers do not allow a student to be singled out by ongoing membership in a
particular group. As teachers modify groupings based on students’ needs or interests,
they ensure that students understand the resultant expectations. For example, when
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grouping students for a new writing workshop or a literature discussion, teachers
help members adapt to group dynamics and explicitly teach group members how to
communicate clearly and supportively.
Establishing the Intellectual Environment
Accomplished teachers create environments in which learning resources are
easily accessible. They take great care to ensure that students are able to access
learning resources with increasing independence. For example, the teacher can
make a variety of engaging writing materials readily available for times when writing
opportunities arise, such as when children receive a postcard in the mail and are
motivated to independently write a response. Additionally, accomplished teachers
ensure that students receive the necessary guidance in selecting texts and other
learning materials for themselves—that they know where materials are and know
how to select those that will meet their personal and academic literacy needs.
Accomplished teachers take measures to ensure that the physical arrangement
of the classroom is conducive to the learning of all students, including students with
exceptionalities. For example, teachers ensure that the environment allows a student
using a wheelchair to be seated in ways that promote easy eye contact and sharing
with other students, whether in large or small groups.
Accomplished teachers know that central to a literacy learning environment is a
classroom library. To the best of their abilities, teachers stock and organize the library
for students of all reading levels and interests. An abundance of texts and a variety
of genres in print and non-print formats are available in the library, and students are
allowed to browse through it and use it daily. Teachers collect resources that reflect a
variety of perspectives, interests, cultures, and life circumstances for their classroom
libraries. Literacy teachers also recognize the importance of regularly introducing
students to new literature and information, and they feature changing texts in the
classroom book collection. Additionally, they provide access to a variety of media
for instructional purposes and offer students opportunities to select media that meet
their individual learning needs. Teachers provide a variety of tools for reading; for
example, during independent reading, some students may choose to use a digital
reading device.
Accomplished teachers are aware that the learning environment extends beyond
the walls of the classroom. They collaborate with families and invite students’
lives and cultures into the classroom. They build partnerships with the community
that enhance student learning (See Standard XII—Collaboration with Families and
Communities). In addition, literacy teachers recognize that online environments are
increasingly a part of the overall learning environment. Teachers create opportunities
for students to engage in social networking and to collaborate locally, nationally,
and globally in developmentally appropriate ways. Teachers also take measures to
maintain students’ safety in online environments.
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Through the learning environments they create, accomplished teachers foster
intrinsic motivation in their students. Accomplished teachers instill in students an
understanding that although learning can sometimes be difficult, the reward for
persistence is a sense of accomplishment and increased self-confidence. Teachers
explain that a willingness to experiment is an essential part of the learning process,
and they demonstrate that mistakes should not be viewed as failures but rather
as valuable lessons on the way to improved understanding. From the start of the
school year, teachers use democratic processes to discuss classroom rules and
consequences and to establish social behaviors that favor effective learning and living
together considerately in the classroom and school community. They teach conflict
resolution skills and support students in assuming responsibility for their own actions.
They provide students with opportunities to make meaningful choices both socially
and intellectually. They foster students’ confidence, intellectual and social risk taking,
and persistence. Teachers are aware that students want to become competent, and
they publicly recognize and celebrate students’ various achievements. Accomplished
early and middle childhood literacy teachers use the affective, physical, and intellectual
learning environment to foster a sense of agency in their students and to lead them
toward becoming resilient, self-regulated learners.
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Standard IV
Instruction
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers employ rich instructional resources and
provide instruction that is tailored to the unique needs of students
in order to foster inquiry; facilitate learning; and build strategic,
independent thinkers who understand the power of language.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers are reflective as they
plan, select resources, and teach. They set clear and appropriate goals, and they can
articulate and justify their plans. They draw on knowledge of learners and professional
expertise to design instruction that meets the needs of diverse students. Teachers
deliberately locate, create, and align resources to help them meet their instructional
goals. They create engaging, interactive, and differentiated opportunities for students
to engage in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing in meaningful ways.
They are flexible and responsive as they modify their teaching during instruction
to meet the needs of individual students. Teachers engage in a recursive cycle of
planning, selecting resources, teaching, and then reflecting on the impact of their
decisions to guide future instruction.
Planning for Learning
Accomplished teachers begin the planning process by engaging in reflection.
They think about previous instruction and consider how previous decisions affected
student learning. Teachers formulate purposeful, long-term, data-driven instructional
goals that are based on local, state, and national standards and curricula. In addition
to their long-range goals, teachers develop lesson plans containing short- and longterm objectives.
All of an accomplished teacher’s instructional goals are influenced by research
and theory. Teachers set goals based on what is developmentally and linguistically
appropriate for their students and what is relevant to their students’ lives. Teachers
take into account their students’ prior knowledge, skills and strategies, and their
cultural and family backgrounds. Teachers use the results of ongoing formative and
summative assessments when setting goals, and they consult with other educators.
Accomplished teachers know that in order to design effective instruction, they
must systematically plan what will happen in each instructional unit and each lesson
within a unit. Teachers make professional, informed choices regarding the depth and
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breadth of content, the sequence in which content is presented, and the pacing of
instruction. They purposefully plan recursive units of study while incorporating wellresearched, relevant, and effective resources.
Accomplished teachers deliberately plan to create opportunities for optimum levels
and types of engagement among students and between students and their teacher.
Teachers use data to plan for the most effective ways to group learners. Teachers
plan for groups that are dynamic, fluid, and flexible; they create homogenous and
heterogeneous groups as appropriate to the instructional task. For example, a sixthgrade teacher might allow students to choose their own small groups for literature
circles during one part of the day and then assign pairs to work with the teacher on
revising their writing samples during another part of the day.
Accomplished teachers are able to articulate the rationale of how the overall
instructional plan will affect student learning. They can explain their planning to
administrators, colleagues, families, and other stakeholders. This articulation
builds awareness of the curriculum and fosters mutual understanding of student
expectations. Additionally, this articulation creates a collaborative effort in which all
parties can reinforce learning expectations and find unique ways to contribute to
students’ academic successes.
Selecting Resources
Accomplished teachers are familiar with a wide range of instructional resources
that enrich and extend the literacy development of their students. These resources
range from traditional print literature to innovative technology and media, community
resources, and student-generated work. Literacy teachers are deliberate and reflective
as they locate and select resources for teaching. Accomplished teachers critically
evaluate professional resources and lesson plan ideas as they seek new resources
for instruction, evaluating all potential resources in terms of their cultural relevancy
and biases. They select curriculum resources based on previous experiences and
their expectation that the materials will promote student literacy growth. They
adapt and modify materials as needed. Teachers are also resourceful in obtaining
and creating supplementary materials that support student learning in all content
areas, such as primary documents, audio recordings of speeches, Web sites, and
video clips. Accomplished teachers provide students with a variety of textual genres,
traditions, cultures, styles, and perspectives representative of the breadth and depth
of children’s literature.
Accomplished teachers are adept at selecting texts which match varying
instructional needs. Teachers have a rich knowledge of children’s literature, including
print and non-print texts. Teachers select texts that encourage literacy development;
represent diverse genres and a range of difficulty levels; exhibit high quality; extend
conceptual knowledge of the world; and encourage engagement by students of
varying backgrounds. For example, teachers in early grades might select picture
books that repeat sounds to foster the development of phonemic awareness,
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whereas teachers in the upper grades might read aloud picture books that feature
figurative language to serve as mentor texts for poetry writing.
Accomplished teachers select media and technology tools that enhance and
extend their students’ opportunities to learn about and through language. Teachers
recognize that they are responsible for selecting developmentally appropriate
technology and media that match overarching curriculum goals and that are appealing
and accessible to learners. For example, teachers might help students set up blogs
in which they communicate with students from around the world as both groups
read the same novel, or they might have English language learners employ email
as an avenue for building language. Accomplished teachers are aware of assistive
technologies that increase success for students with exceptionalities. They may
obtain an adaptive mouse for a student to use with a computer, learn to program a
voice simulator for a student who is without speech, or provide interactive software
for a student with cognitive processing difficulties to help that student learn to read
and write.
Accomplished teachers regard instructional time as an invaluable resource, and
they maximize its use; their lessons are clear, purposeful, coherent, and well managed,
with smooth transitions between one activity and the next. Teachers engage their
students in predictable classroom routines; their students feel secure because they
know what is expected of them. Accomplished teachers organize their instruction
into large blocks that allow for in-depth literacy experiences. Teachers’ daily routines
invite personal initiative, helping students create connections between subject areas
and build on their previous learning.
Accomplished teachers know that students must be active participants in
the learning process in order to construct new knowledge; therefore, they select
resources and materials that encourage active engagement and social interaction.
They recognize that many early and middle childhood students are kinesthetic
learners, and so they provide students with concrete materials. For example, teachers
may provide groups of younger students with puppets when they teach retelling.
Teachers of older students might ask pairs of students to use comic strip software to
storyboard as a part of prewriting a story.
Accomplished teachers know that the community is also an important resource
when they are fashioning a relevant curriculum and implementing instruction.
Teachers purposefully connect the classroom and the community. They may bring
the community to the classroom by means of guest speakers, volunteers, and
storytellers. Speakers who represent the cultural diversity of the community can
share their accomplishments and areas of expertise, providing strong role models for
all students. Teachers also take the classroom into the community by means of field
trips and projects that involve students in interviews, data gathering, service projects,
and other interactions that demonstrate to students the many ways that language
can bring about change in the world. Teachers foster school partnerships with local
businesses and organizations, for example, in staging theatrical productions or
publishing student-authored texts.
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Accomplished teachers communicate with others in the literacy field—both locally
and globally, face to face and online—to supplement and refine their repertoire of
strategies and resources. Teachers work effectively with other practitioners, including
other instructional specialists, to offer a coordinated program that gives all students
access to a rich and stimulating curriculum. They might work collaboratively with
the reading specialist or classroom teacher to develop a plan to provide needed
instructional experiences for individuals or small groups of learners, thus facilitating
continued literacy development. (See Standard XIII—Professional Responsibility.)
Accomplished teachers understand that some of the most effective instructional
resources are those created by students themselves. Student history projects,
multimedia presentations, dramas, science logs, original stories and poems,
audiotapes of oral histories, and articles in class newspapers effectively promote
language building because students learn through the process of creating them and,
after their dissemination, through the responses of others to their work. Teachers
promote the production of such materials by giving students appropriate materials
and sufficient time. Teachers subsequently make student-produced texts of all kinds
available for wider reading, listening, or viewing—both by individuals and in groups.
Teaching
Accomplished teachers know that literacy teaching is a dynamic, responsive
process through which a teacher immerses students in the language arts. Teachers
know that accomplished instruction involves a constant flow of communication,
both to convey information and to invite students to respond with higher-level
thinking. Accomplished teachers think flexibly about elements of teaching, including
resources, time, and student engagement that will connect literacy learning to realworld expectations. Literacy teachers use information from previous experiences,
current research, and established instructional strategies as they modify instruction
to meet the needs of their learners. Teachers are mindful that they must seek to
make students independent in their use of literacy skills. To achieve that, teachers
assess, instruct, provide resources, refine teaching, and differentiate in a cyclical
fashion and with fluidity. They convey the importance of literacy skills to students in
multiple ways in order to encourage active engagement. Teachers also continuously
reflect—to plan thoughtfully, to be mindful of teachable moments, and to consider
whether objectives and needs have been met.
Accomplished teachers understand that effective instruction engages students in
critical intellectual processes. Teachers believe that inquiry—the process of seeking
to know and understand through questioning—is a powerful route to understanding.
They encourage students to actively use questioning to inquire about the world,
clarify their thinking, and engage with stories and ideas. Teachers use effective
questioning themselves. They craft questions to support students’ learning and to
gauge students’ levels of engagement and understanding.
Accomplished teachers implement resources and materials flexibly and equitably.
They support all students by creating instruction that invites active engagement. They
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provide ample opportunities for students of all ages to take part in social, dramatic,
and intellectual play because of the way that play supports oral and written language
development and conceptual learning. Literacy teachers at times use project-based
learning to foster greater depth of knowledge and critical thinking. They may also use
problem-based learning to ground instruction in real-world contexts.
Accomplished teachers use the results of ongoing assessments to refine their plans
and differentiate instruction as needed. Accomplished teachers hold the same high
expectations for all students’ literacy learning; however, they differentiate instruction
by providing different resources, learning engagements, or levels of support in order
to help all students meet those expectations. Teachers do this by providing whole
group, small group, and individualized instruction in flexible and responsive ways. For
example, during independent reading conferences, the teacher may observe that
several students read self-selected texts accurately, but are unable to read aloud
with fluency and expression. The teacher might group these students for guided
fluency instruction, providing a text that is conducive to phrased, fluent reading, such
as a poem or the lyrics to a song. Teachers may provide differentiation by varying the
amount of time they allow students to complete assignments or providing students
with choices in literacy engagements. When appropriate, teachers may vary the
readability levels of instructional materials. For example, when a class is studying
insects, the teacher might ask small groups to read passages at different readability
levels and then discuss their learning or record important ideas on a chart with the
whole group.
Accomplished teachers understand that instruction often involves an ongoing
dialogue with students. Teachers know that dialogue builds a close relationship
between the student and teacher, with both parties providing vital feedback
on efficient and creative ways of using the instructional period. These creative
collaborations foster increased independence in the learner. For example, teachers
might think aloud to model their use of metacognition as they read and reread a
difficult text. Afterward, they might ask students to talk with each other about how
to apply the same rereading strategy. Finally, teachers would encourage students to
reread whenever meaning breaks down during their own independent reading. This
allows students to become aware of what they know, understand, can do, and can
apply in new ways in the future.
As they implement instruction, accomplished teachers continuously engage in
reflection, evaluating whether their instruction is achieving their goals. Accomplished
teachers capitalize on teachable moments. During instruction, accomplished
teachers understand that flexibility is crucial and that adjustments will become
necessary as the teacher scaffolds student learning. Teachers make subtle and
effective modifications in response to their observation of students’ gestures, facial
expressions, and comments as well as in response to what is happening in the
classroom and in the world.
Accomplished teachers demonstrate a sense of passion and immediacy
that communicates the importance of literacy. They understand that their own
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body language, tone, and pauses during speech affect student engagement and
comprehension, and they skillfully adjust their modes of communication to optimize
student learning.
Reflecting on Learning
Reflection is an integral part of all aspects of teaching but is critical to planning
and implementing instruction. Accomplished teachers know that reflection is a
recursive process that, ideally, occurs before, during, and after instruction; therefore,
teachers purposefully schedule time within each day to engage in reflective thinking
or writing. Accomplished teachers reflect on ongoing assessments, observations,
and curricular expectations as they make or adjust instructional plans. They reflect
during daily lessons, considering the level of student engagement or performance,
and adjust instruction accordingly. They reflect on how lessons affect student
learning and strive to improve future lessons, even when lessons go well. They
reflect on their use of time, resources, and instructional strategies, always looking
for effective ways to refine and improve their own practice. They seek student input
on the effectiveness of their teaching and reflect on ways they might enhance future
learning engagements. Recognizing the power of reflection, they purposely plan
for opportunities for students to self-reflect as well. Accomplished early and middle
childhood literacy teachers exemplify the reflective practitioner as they plan for and
implement instruction that will have the greatest impact on the growth of all literacy
learners.
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Standard V
Assessment
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers use a range of ongoing formal and informal
assessment methods and strategies to gather data in order to
shape and drive instructional decisions; monitor individual student
progress; guide student self-assessment; gather information
to communicate to various audiences; and engage in ongoing
reflection.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers assess what students
bring to instruction, what they learn from instruction, and what they still need to learn.
Literacy teachers understand that improving their teaching and student learning is the
primary reason for assessing student performance. These early and middle childhood
teachers continuously monitor their students’ literacy development through formal
and informal assessments. Teachers’ assessment practices support and inform
their instructional practices, continue throughout the school year, focus on authentic
language tasks, and build on students’ literacy strengths. Teachers systematically
assess student progress, using developmentally appropriate assessments and
communicating their findings to students, parents, administrators, and community
stakeholders.
Accomplished teachers assess student progress jointly with the students
themselves, collaborate with other professionals on assessment, and encourage
parents’ active participation in the assessment process. Teachers use assessments
as a way of providing students with the opportunity to monitor and reflect on their own
literacy achievement. In the classrooms of accomplished teachers, students become
aware of their progress in literacy development and come to think of themselves as
independent learners who are capable of evaluating their own work as well as setting
goals for future learning.
Knowledge of Assessment
Accomplished teachers understand that assessment is the process of
discerning the breadth and depth of students’ skills and knowledge. They know that
assessment must be an ongoing component of the accomplished literacy teacher’s
routine and that assessment serves a variety of critical purposes. Teachers realize
that sound, appropriate, and well-designed assessments have the power to lead
to extensive and meaningful student learning. Teachers understand the difference
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between assessing and evaluating, and they know that grading is only one part of
these processes. Accomplished teachers have a command of a wide range of valid
and developmentally appropriate assessment methods and tools that align with the
central goals of the language arts curriculum, and they know how to use assessment
data to help students progress as readers, writers, listeners, speakers, and viewers.
Teachers have thorough knowledge of the local, state, and national standards and
benchmarks that indicate proficiency in literacy at various developmental levels.
Accomplished teachers understand the many purposes of assessment, including
to evaluate student learning; to inform their own teaching practices; to provide
feedback to students; to communicate with stakeholders about individual student
progress and overall school performance; and to foster both teacher and student
self-reflection. Teachers know the full range of assessment types. They understand
the purposes and uses of both formative and summative assessments, and they
understand that within these two broad groupings there are both formal and informal
assessment tools. Literacy assessments may include classroom observation
and documentation; records of reading; portfolio assessments; oral reading
assessments; multiple-choice tests; teacher-student conferences; and mandated
assessments. Accomplished teachers know the strengths and limitations of each
type of assessment tool, and they understand that rich and robust educational plans
require a multifaceted approach to assessment.
Accomplished teachers understand the value of encouraging students to take
responsibility for their own intellectual, social, emotional, and ethical growth. Teachers
know that by promoting metacognitive awareness in their students through selfassessment, teachers allow students to take responsibility for their learning and help
them become more reflective thinkers. Literacy teachers recognize the importance
that self-assessment plays in developing literacy learners. Teachers know that
students who can make meaningful connections and pose self-generated questions
are positioned to become active, engaged, and self-regulating. These teachers
realize that teaching students how to self-assess and reflect on their learning may be
particularly powerful for helping reluctant classroom learners find new connections
between their curiosity and the school curriculum. Accomplished teachers also
recognize that self-assessment can be valuable for English language learners, since
collecting their work over time makes evident their progress in language acquisition.
Furthermore, accomplished teachers understand that student self-assessment can
provide an opportunity for the teacher to determine the efficacy of instruction.
Accomplished teachers know that they are accountable for student performance
on local and national standardized tests. They familiarize themselves with the purposes,
features, and learning outcomes of these assessments prior to administering them
to their students. Teachers recognize their responsibility in regard to mandated
assessments, meet their responsibility in creative and innovative ways, and ensure
that preparations for these assessments provide opportunities for significant learning
for students. Teachers know how to analyze and interpret data from standardized
testing programs; and they know how to use that information to design, evaluate,
and modify literacy curriculum and instruction. When possible, teachers work with
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those outside the classroom to ensure that mandated evaluations are consistent with
the vision that frames instruction and assessment in the classroom.
Selecting and Administering Assessments
Accomplished teachers are constant and insightful observers of students at
work and at play. In the classrooms of accomplished teachers, assessment is wholly
integrated into daily instruction and is an ongoing process. Teachers continuously
collect, examine, and interpret a variety of data about the ways students communicate,
carry out learning tasks, and interact with peers.
Accomplished teachers know that effective assessment of literacy activities
involves establishing a relationship of trust between student and teacher. Teachers
work hard to build that sense of trust, and they strive to have daily, individual contact
with each student as a way of staying abreast of students’ development as individual
language learners and as social beings.
Teachers continuously affirm students’ language uses, and they provide
appropriate measures of encouragement and constructive feedback before, during,
and after assessment.
Accomplished teachers choose, design, and select assessments that are aligned
with the curriculum, instructional practices, standards, and goals and that meet the
needs of individual students, the class as a whole, the school and the district, and
families. Literacy teachers take into account students’ cultural and linguistic variations
and are careful to assess students fairly and equitably, adapting assessments to meet
the needs of specific populations. (See Standard II—Equity, Fairness, and Diversity.)
Teachers design and select a variety of assessments to show both students’ individual
growth and their progress toward grade-level norms.
Accomplished teachers draw on the strengths and interests of their students in
order to ensure that assessments accurately reveal what students know and can
do. In some situations, teachers may offer students an array of assessment options.
For example, when trying to determine students’ comprehension of a given piece
of literature, a teacher might allow students to write, create an oral presentation, or
produce a work of art in response to the text. When constructing a writing portfolio,
teachers may ask students to choose the piece of writing they wish to see included
in the portfolio and then explain what it shows about the student as a writer.
Accomplished teachers consider each student’s culture and background
knowledge when selecting and administering assessments. When appropriate,
teachers modify assessments according to their knowledge of students’ schemas.
For example, a teacher might use an assessment in a student’s primary language
to obtain a more accurate representation of the student’s ability. A literacy teacher
might also consider adapting test terminology to accommodate regional language
differences, such as the fact that students living in the South may think of a toboggan
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as a hat, whereas people in other parts of the country are more likely to think of it as
a sled.
Accomplished teachers guide students in assessing their own literacy progress
and establishing their own learning goals; they provide models, criteria, benchmarks,
and feedback so that students can make accurate and realistic decisions. Literacy
teachers model strategies that students can use before, during, and after reading
new or challenging texts. A teacher might provide students with a variety of selfassessment tools and invite students to make thoughtful selections and then use the
tools appropriately. For example, a teacher might scaffold for students the process of
evaluating portfolio selections. Accomplished teachers also facilitate peer discussions
focused on assessment.
Accomplished teachers prepare their students appropriately for all types of
assessments, providing practice in the particular skills needed to complete specific
types of assessments, such as standardized tests, online assessments, or portfolios.
For example, when preparing students who do not customarily take standardized
tests in multiple-choice format, the teacher would first explain the format to students
and then allow them practice in completing sample items. The teacher would also
ensure that students are familiar with the types of directions and types of genres
likely to appear on all tests. Literacy teachers help students emotionally and
physically by creating a testing environment that is comfortable and conducive to
concentration, using knowledge of the community and individual student needs to
provide appropriate encouragement and preparation.
Teachers understand that parents and other adult caregivers have a tremendous
store of relevant information that can help teachers learn about the whole child. This
pool of knowledge includes the student’s cultural and language history, likes and
dislikes, work habits, goals, self-image, learning style, and personality. Accomplished
teachers take steps to form alliances between home and school to select and refine
their assessments. (See Standard I—Knowledge of Learners and Standard XII—
Collaboration with Families and Communities.)
Accomplished teachers know how to select the most efficient and effective
technology available for collecting assessment data, and they are adept at applying
this technology. For example, a teacher might make an audio recording of a student
reading a short passage and then analyze the reading for miscues or fluency. A
teacher might use a computer program to calculate the readability level of a text
used in a reading assessment. Accomplished teachers understand the challenges
that some technological assessment tools may pose for students. For example,
students who find it difficult to navigate texts in a screen-based format may need
support in order to complete online assessments. Teachers also assess students’
progress by providing opportunities for students to use technology to demonstrate
literacy development. For example, teachers might allow students to use a Web tool
to develop a class rubric or have students create a book review by making a short
video.
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Analyzing Assessment Data
Accomplished teachers realize the importance of engaging in continuous
reflection, alone and with colleagues, about the data collected from assessment.
Teachers also know that assessment of student learning takes many forms, and
they do not make judgments about students on the basis of any single assessment.
Rather, they analyze data from many different assessments to build a comprehensive,
multidimensional picture of each student’s abilities, achievements, and needs.
Accomplished teachers consider the purpose of each assessment and
identify any nonacademic factors that may affect results, such as distractions
in the environment, poor motivation on the part of students, or a lack of clarity in
test directions. For example, if most students performed poorly on a given item,
the accomplished teacher would take the next step to determine if students failed
to master the relevant content or if the item was somehow flawed. Accomplished
teachers examine individual test results and also analyze data across the class to
determine whether both individual students and the class as a whole mastered the
skills and knowledge being assessed.
Accomplished teachers realize that a given assessment provides insight into
students at a given moment; therefore, they collect, analyze, and compare data
over time, looking for significant patterns and trends. They frequently compare
their assessment findings, employing the results of one method to cross-check
the accuracy and validity of another. Teachers analyze and discuss results with
colleagues. They keep systematic, comprehensive records of all students’ progress
across all domains of literacy. Literacy teachers know how to interpret the results of
standardized tests. They understand the statistical analyses performed on results
from such tests, and they carefully read published reports. Accomplished teachers
carefully record and analyze data from informal assessments as well as from formal
ones.
Accomplished teachers use technology to analyze the data they collect, making
use of spreadsheets or other statistical analysis programs. They may use a database
to aggregate and disaggregate data and to create graphic representations such
as bar graphs or scatter plots in order to analyze students’ progress and inform
instruction. They look for patterns and trends in data and know how to account for
such phenomena in data as outliers.
Communicating the Results of Assessment
Accomplished teachers clearly communicate assessment results to students,
parents, administrators, colleagues, school board members, and other stakeholders,
and they do so in a timely manner. Literacy teachers prepare reports of their
evaluations that clearly communicate the nature and degree of the progress that
students are making. These teachers use the public release of data about the
school’s performance on standardized tests as an opportunity to communicate with
parents and stakeholders about ways in which teachers are striving to meet the
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needs of students. Teachers provide parents with meaningful feedback on how their
children are progressing in the acquisition of language processes. Accomplished
teachers use feedback as a way to cultivate family support and celebrate student
achievement.
Accomplished teachers communicate both quantitative and qualitative data
and explain the significance of both types. They also explain to students, parents,
and community members that numerical scores may obscure subtle differences
in achievement. For example, if a student receives a 3 on a standardized test, the
teacher needs to clarify the total scale (3 out of what possible total score?); the
range of performance within the score (in other words, there may be high 3’s or low
3’s); and the difference in proficiency between a 3 achieved at one grade and the
same score achieved at a higher grade. Accomplished teachers assist parents in
recognizing academic growth from year to year. (See Standard XII—Collaboration
with Families and Communities.)
Accomplished teachers communicate regularly with students about assessments
and their results, and they help students understand the data so that students can
reflect on their own learning. Teachers explain the value of multiple assessments
and the ways that a variety of feedback can improve learning. They may discuss
how to interpret a variety of assessment results and how to understand rubrics,
checklists, the meanings of scores on standardized tests, and other assessment
tools. Accomplished teachers make certain that students understand the relative
strengths and weaknesses of various assessment tools for understanding their own
literacy achievement in general and specific aspects of reading, writing, speaking,
listening, and viewing in particular.
Accomplished teachers are adept at communicating the complexities involved
in converting assessment data into grades. Teachers explain that, when grading,
they take into consideration the student’s motivation, effort, potential, and progress,
as well as comparing the student’s performance to grade-level expectations and
developmental benchmarks. Literacy teachers communicate why it is important to
avoid grade inflation, but they also demonstrate their understanding that grades can
be demoralizing for individual students or populations of students whose scores
may reflect a history of institutional and cultural challenges. Accomplished teachers
clearly articulate the rationale for how they establish grades and help keep grades in
perspective relative to other measures of student learning.
In talking with parents about a student’s literacy progress, accomplished
teachers maintain a two-way exchange of information to obtain the insights of
parents and to offer their own constructive suggestions to help students grow in their
literacy development. For example, teachers might arrange to have a conversation
with parents early in the school year and then use relevant information from this
conversation as part of the student’s learning profile. Throughout the year, teachers
apprise parents of the results of assessments in terms that are clear, fair, objective,
and trustworthy and that generate parental input. Teachers include students as
participants in reporting assessment results.
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Accomplished teachers effectively use available technologies to communicate
assessment data to parents and other stakeholders. They may use digital software
to create graphs or charts of individual, class, or school performance in order to
display growth over time. If they are required by the district to use assessment
portals, they may choose to go above and beyond merely entering numerical grades
and communicate additional pertinent assessment information to parents. For
example, teachers might maintain a Web site which offers information about how
parents can help students prepare for assessments, including components such as
test preparation modules or explanations of testing jargon. Teachers might provide
parents with information on their child’s performance through emails or other forms
of digital communication. They might use technology to inform stakeholders about
assessments. For example, a teacher might use presentation software to display
results of standardized testing and help stakeholders better understand how these
data are used to refine and improve instructional programs.
Using Assessment Results
Accomplished teachers use assessment findings to guide instructional planning
for individual students, small groups, and the entire class. Teachers use data from a
wide variety of both formative and summative assessments to decide which learning
experiences to offer. To accomplished teachers, assessment is never simply the end
of a unit of teaching, but also is used to determine what students are ready to learn
next, to determine the best ways to teach, and to differentiate instruction for students.
Accomplished teachers use assessment results to plan instruction in multiple
ways. Assessments provide information about student interests and abilities that
help teachers differentiate instruction. Teachers may use reading interest surveys to
select books for literature circles or use students’ writing samples to determine the
next mini-lessons to teach during writing instruction. Literacy teachers use results of
recurring assessments to monitor student progress across the language arts. When
student progress is not as expected, teachers engage in more in-depth assessment
to understand why and then make instructional changes or provide interventions to
accelerate learning. For example, teachers may gather regular records of reading
and use the results to make informed decisions about which aspects of literacy to
emphasize during small-group instruction.
Accomplished teachers use assessment data to reflect on their teaching as well
as on their students’ learning. They perceive all assessments as an opportunity for
professional growth. As teachers review assessment data, they question whether
benchmarks have been met and goals have been accomplished. They consider
whether their instructional decisions have had the desired impact, and they refine
their instructional practices accordingly. Teachers may realize that a particular small
group struggled with an assignment to critique a Web site and reformulate groups
accordingly; or they may review students’ scores on a checklist of listening skills and
decide to spend more time teaching students to be considerate listeners when they
confer with partners.
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ASSESSMENT
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers use assessment to
understand student learning and achievement and to guide and improve their own
instructional practice.
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Standard VI
Reading
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers use their knowledge of the reading
processes, of their students, and of the dynamic connections within
the other language arts to create effective instruction so that all
readers construct meaning and develop an enduring appreciation
of reading.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers recognize the pivotal
importance that reading plays in each child’s development. Literacy teachers
understand that reading is a complex process and that successful readers employ
a variety of strategies to construct meaning. Teachers are knowledgeable about the
entire range of practices related to language development and the reading processes.
Their instructional decisions are based on the needs of students, and these decisions
are guided by literacy research and theories; by knowledge of children’s literature and
other texts; and by local, state, and national standards. Accomplished teachers are
able to create a rich environment that promotes literacy while assisting their students
in using all the language arts to access and enrich other content areas. Teachers
know how to differentiate instruction for all students and are able to articulate their
rationale for instructional decisions. Accomplished teachers are themselves avid
readers with a broad curiosity about and experience with written texts of many kinds.
Knowledge
Accomplished teachers know that literacy learning begins early in life and
progresses along a continuum of development, and they recognize that their students
are at various points in their reading development. Literacy teachers possess a
repertoire of approaches, methods, and materials to meet the needs of individual
students and to challenge each student to grow as a reader. Accomplished teachers
know the processes, skills, and strategies that students at various developmental
levels need to learn in order to decode, comprehend, analyze, and evaluate
increasingly more complex texts.
Accomplished teachers understand the particular challenges related to learning
to read, and they know that each student may need to overcome various challenges.
Teachers ensure that all students receive high-quality instruction that motivates them
and furthers their development as readers. Teachers know how and when to assess
students to select texts that relate to student needs and interests. For example, the
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teacher might notice from a record of reading that a student relies on picture support,
so the teacher would select texts with close picture-text correspondence for that
particular learner. The ultimate goal of accomplished teachers is to help students
develop into lifelong readers who are engaged in the process of learning, who are
able to comprehend and critique what they read, and who read for enjoyment.
Accomplished teachers recognize the relationship that exists between students’
background knowledge and their abilities to comprehend the texts they read.
Teachers know the importance of honoring, assessing, and activating the prior
knowledge that students bring to the classroom. Literacy teachers understand how
to help students draw upon their background knowledge to interpret evidence and
information in texts, identify bias, and constructively critique inaccurate portrayals
and information. Teachers know how to help students connect to text by providing
them with a variety of strategies to use before, during, and after reading. They also
know how to create authentic experiences both inside and outside the classroom to
build a base of shared knowledge for their students.
Accomplished teachers understand that reading is the process of constructing
meaning from texts. They also understand that reading is transactional—that is,
the reader brings meaning to and takes meaning from a text—and that a student’s
response to a text is influenced by his or her prior knowledge and experiences,
purposes for reading, and the context in which the text is read. For example, the
accomplished teacher would understand that in the case of some rural students
who may never have seen an escalator, it would be helpful to show a picture of an
escalator or a video clip of one on the Internet and explain its similarity to a conveyor
belt.
Accomplished teachers know that students can motivate one another to read by
sharing ideas and information about reading materials, authors, and illustrators, and
that students can also influence one another’s ability to think critically about texts.
Literacy teachers recognize that the degree of curiosity and motivation students
bring to texts directly affects their willingness to work hard at understanding them.
Accomplished teachers know that strategic readers use a variety of cueing
systems, and they understand how to instruct students to use these systems flexibly.
Teachers know how to provide all students, whether emerging or proficient readers,
with appropriate texts, strategies, and opportunities to practice reading with sufficient
fluency and automaticity. Literacy teachers recognize that students have varying
degrees of experience with texts and concepts of print. Teachers know to assess
for and purposefully teach concepts of print, knowing that these concepts become
increasingly sophisticated along the reading continuum. For example, teachers
of young students understand that a basic understanding would be directionality
and return sweep, while teachers of older students would include more advanced
concepts such as knowing how to navigate a graphic novel.
Accomplished teachers are familiar with a wide range of written, spoken, and visual
texts. These might include children’s literature such as picture books, poems, and folk
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literature; other narrative and expository texts; and non-print and multimedia texts
appropriate for early and middle childhood. Teachers understand the importance of
engaging students with all these types of texts. Literacy teachers know that in an age
of information-rich technology, students need the ability to read texts in all media and
to make connections among different media. Teachers understand the importance
of providing students with access to a rich selection of texts—including community
and student-generated texts—through classroom, school, and community libraries.
Accomplished teachers comprehend the historical and cultural contexts of texts, and
they know and use texts that authentically represent diversity in terms of culture,
abilities, gender, region, and use of language.
Environment
Accomplished teachers establish a safe and comfortable literacy environment that
invites and encourages reading. They use a variety of materials that are authentic,
engaging, and culturally appropriate, and they allow students to engage with those
materials in a variety of ways. Literacy teachers capitalize on both the physical and
affective opportunities within the learning environment.
In the physical environment, accomplished teachers promote visual literacy
through a deliberate dispersion of reading materials such as diverse literature, big
books, word walls, content and motivational posters, word banks, shared poetry,
and technology. They set aside areas in the room for independent cozy reading,
paired practice, small-group lessons, and whole-group instruction. They purposefully
incorporate play in their classrooms and, when possible, offer puppets and props
to retell or act out a story. Teachers also ensure that all students have access to
technology in the reading environment.
Accomplished teachers carefully foster an emotionally safe learning environment
where students feel secure enough to take risks as they are learning how to read.
Teachers cultivate a collaborative learning community in which students encourage,
support, and promote the literacy development of their peers. Teachers engage
students through purposeful reading routines and opportunities for students to read
throughout the school day.
Instruction
Accomplished teachers know that reading is a meaning-making process in which
the ultimate goal is comprehension. Teachers provide students with a variety of
strategies to use before, during, and after reading; they match these strategies to the
challenges posed by texts and the needs of readers. Literacy teachers help students
learn to use cueing systems flexibly and effectively in their reading. Teachers provide
students with the varied experiences and sophisticated skills they need to develop
the independent ability to use each system appropriately without an overreliance
on any one of them. Accomplished teachers expose students to new texts and to
new concepts and promote enthusiasm for reading. They teach reading in engaging,
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meaningful, and authentic ways that support students’ abilities to comprehend texts
in sophisticated ways.
Accomplished teachers invite students to respond to texts in a variety of ways.
In promoting serious interpretive dialogue about texts, these teachers are attentive
listeners, and they are receptive to the various opinions put forward by their students.
Teachers understand the social nature of reading and provide opportunities for
students to share their reactions to reading specific materials. Literacy teachers
encourage a range of interpretations, helping students recognize and respect the
inherent value of differing responses to the same text. At the same time, teachers
ask that students support their points of view with evidence gathered from a close
reading of the text and other sources and that they use this evidence as a starting
point to make judgments and inferences that further their understanding of texts and
the world.
Accomplished teachers model and explicitly teach students to use metacognition
to select and apply a variety of comprehension strategies to monitor their
comprehension of texts, and to engage explicitly in strategies that support meaningmaking when comprehension breaks down. For example, during a read-aloud, the
teacher may demonstrate a think-aloud by pausing and saying, “I wonder if…” or
make a connection using a phrase such as, “This makes me think about….”
Accomplished teachers model for students how to locate the most important ideas
in a text and how to relate those ideas to concepts encountered in other texts and in
real-world experiences. They teach students to draw on background knowledge as
they read, to summarize arguments, and to preview important textual and visual cues
in order to make reasonable predictions. For example, literacy teachers inform their
students about text features such as headings, bullets, and bolded words which will
help students organize their thinking and further comprehend what they are reading.
Accomplished teachers encourage students to think critically about texts. They
model for students how to question the intent of the author as well as the impact
of the text through the development of critical reading skills. Teachers ensure that
students’ skills as critical interpreters of texts are continually developed across all
areas of the curriculum and in all instructional settings.
Accomplished teachers foster students’ abilities to be flexible as they decode
unfamiliar words so they can unlock the meaning of texts. Teachers purposefully
plan word study, and they also capitalize on opportunities for word learning that arise
spontaneously. Literacy teachers teach students effective strategies for developing
their reading skills. For example, they know that by providing students ample time to
write, students will approximate the spelling of words by applying their knowledge of
phonics. Teachers work to develop students’ phonemic awareness, understanding
of phonics, and understanding of the alphabetic principle. They teach these skills and
processes in systematic, meaningful, motivating, and appropriate ways. Teachers
may use songs, rhymes, or poetry with younger students to explore onsets and
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rimes, or they may engage older students in word sorts to explore spelling patterns
or the meanings of prefixes.
Accomplished teachers support students’ vocabulary acquisition, which in turn
fosters reading comprehension. Teachers use an array of strategies to develop
students’ vocabulary. They introduce students to an abundance of new words through
real conversations in authentic contexts as well as by reading aloud to students;
engaging students in wide reading of diverse texts; and employing vivid, complex,
and varied oral language experiences. Literacy teachers support students’ acquisition
of a variety of ways to learn new words such as using reference tools and using the
context of the text to determine word meanings. They select appropriate vocabulary
for explicit word study based on their assessments of students’ word knowledge
and the utility of words for supporting future oral and written communication.
Accomplished teachers value the relationship between content vocabulary and
conceptual knowledge in the content areas, and therefore, they develop students’
discipline-specific vocabulary.
Accomplished teachers are aware that fluency affects comprehension, and they
are careful to select accessible texts that are matched to students’ instructional
needs. Literacy teachers understand that fluency involves automaticity, prosody, and
rate, and they are careful not to emphasize rate over comprehension. Teachers know
that fluency is best taught by providing students with opportunities to engage in
the reading of connected texts. For example, a teacher would allow a student with
emerging language skills multiple opportunities to reread a familiar shared poem or
short story.
Accomplished teachers understand the value of reading aloud to students, even
when those students are sophisticated readers themselves. Teachers use reading
aloud in the classroom to serve a number of purposes, including extending students’
vocabulary; developing students’ higher-level thinking skills; modeling well-phrased
and fluent oral reading; introducing a new genre, author, writing style, or concept;
and modeling comprehension strategies.
Accomplished teachers are aware of the advantages and limitations of various
media and know how print and non-print media often combine to create powerful
communication. They teach students how to critically interpret and assess messages
conveyed in the texts they read. Teachers use various current and emerging
technologies and are familiar with the common benefits and challenges of using these
reading resources. They provide students with high-quality literature across the entire
early and middle childhood curriculum. Literacy teachers keep the instructional focus
on meaning-making while constantly integrating the development of the student’s
ability to read with the student’s expanding understanding of the world.
Accomplished teachers recognize the powerful role that assessment plays in
determining how to deliver appropriate reading instruction to all students. Teachers
conduct formal and informal reading assessments on a regular basis and for a variety
of purposes. Literacy teachers use assessment to gain a clear understanding of
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students’ reading abilities, including assessing students’ abilities to decode, their
knowledge of vocabulary, their fluency, and their literal and inferential comprehension
of texts. Teachers may also assess students’ uses of strategies, their reading
interests, and their ability to critique the texts they read. Accomplished teachers select
reading assessment tools in a variety of formats, including a paper-and-pencil format
if appropriate. In addition, teachers may also assess students’ discussions of books
in large and small groups; their online responses to what they have read; dramatic
reenactments of literature; or responses to texts using other creative expressions,
such as music, dance, or original works of art.
Accomplished teachers engage in assessment to monitor students’ progress
in reading and to revise instruction based on student growth or identified student
need. They provide specific interventions for struggling readers. Teachers are
skilled interpreters of assessment data who realize that it can be helpful to analyze
assessment results in collaboration with others, including the students themselves as
appropriate. Teachers also provide multiple opportunities for students to self-assess
their progress in reading and interpreting texts.
Connections
Accomplished teachers know how to make connections between reading and
the other language arts by integrating speaking, listening, writing, and viewing with
reading instruction. They also foster critical reading of texts across the content areas
by extending and enriching opportunities for students to read multiple genres across
the curriculum.
Accomplished teachers understand the connection between oral language and
reading comprehension in developing critical readers. Therefore, teachers foster
substantive conversations about books and texts as a regular part of classroom life.
In these conversations, the process of exploring ideas in a text is understood as a
shared responsibility, one that literacy teachers and students undertake in a spirit of
collaboration and mutual trust. For example, a teacher might encourage students to
discuss a text with a peer and then complete the process again with another peer
to compare and contrast multiple perspectives. (See Standard VIII—Listening and
Speaking.)
Accomplished teachers understand the reciprocal relationship that exists
between reading and writing. They understand that the act of reading texts supports
students’ growing writing abilities and that writing supports reading comprehension
and furthers the development of reading skills. They teach students to “read like
writers”—in other words, to analyze the way that texts are constructed in order to
inform their own writing processes. (See Standard VII—Writing.)
Accomplished teachers recognize that in an information-rich society, developing
viewing skills and visual literacy are essential to reading instruction. Realizing that
the meaning of the term text has expanded to include both print and non-print
versions, they purposefully select a variety of texts in order to help students develop
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the critical reading skills of analyzing and critiquing non-print texts. Literacy teachers
often extend and enhance reading instruction by employing visual texts such as
photographs, artwork, Web sites, graphics images, and video clips.
Accomplished teachers help students understand that similar skills are needed in
order to read both print and non-print texts. For example, the teacher might teach a
lesson on how to draw conclusions from a photograph as a way to scaffold student
learning as they then draw conclusions from a printed text.
Accomplished teachers help their students comprehend, interpret, and critique a
variety of meaningful texts across the entire early and middle childhood curriculum,
including social studies, science, health, mathematics, the arts, and other subject
areas, as well as through regular encounters with a variety of high-quality literature.
Literacy teachers understand that students must apply discipline-specific skills
and strategies in order to read content-area texts, and they explicitly teach the
text features, structures, and unique reading processes in the disciplines, including
teaching students to read a variety of both print and multimedia texts. Accomplished
teachers help students make connections across texts and critique the authenticity
and validity of the texts they read in the content areas. (See Standard X—Literacy
Across the Curriculum.)
Accomplished early and middle childhood teachers know that the language arts
are a complex, interwoven collection of tools through which students make meaning
and communicate in their world, both personally and globally. Accomplished early
and middle childhood literacy teachers deliberately and carefully balance reading
experiences within the language arts and other content areas to help promote access
for all students so that they grow into confident and successful global citizens.
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Standard VII
Writing
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers use their knowledge of writing processes,
language acquisition, writing development, and ongoing assessment
to provide authentic and relevant instruction that prepares students
to write for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers know that writing is the
process of exploring, organizing, and transcribing one’s thoughts in a variety of print
and non-print forms. They understand the power that writing has to allow the writer
to clarify thinking, communicate ideas, create new worlds, relate to others, and make
discoveries. They know that writing draws on a complex web of social, physical, and
cognitive skills that take time and effort to acquire. They teach students to use writing
to inform, persuade, beguile, impress, or otherwise influence an audience. Literacy
teachers understand that writing is an intellectual adventure requiring discipline and
daily practice. They recognize that writing is a complex, recursive thinking process
that varies widely from individual to individual, and they create an environment that
nurtures each student’s discovery of approaches to writing. Accomplished teachers
are experienced and skilled writers themselves, and they model writing throughout
the instructional day. Teachers help students develop metacognitive awareness of
the interdependence of writing and the other language arts along with connections
between writing and other content areas.
Knowledge
Accomplished teachers are knowledgeable about the current literature on the
subject of teaching writing, including theories of writing and pedagogies that support
the learning of writing. Accomplished teachers can participate with professional
ease in conversations that surround the teaching of writing, and they can select
and synthesize sound instructional practices. Accomplished teachers understand all
stages of the writing process, including prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and
publishing, and they know that the writing process is recursive, not linear.
Accomplished teachers understand that writing is in many respects a social
process—a way of finding one’s voice in the world—and that the desire to make
one’s ideas known to others often serves as a powerful motivator for writers.
Literacy teachers understand that the goal of writing is not simply to communicate
with others. They also know that writing can be used to express emotion; reflect
on learning; record discoveries; and summarize, analyze, and synthesize concepts
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across the curriculum. Finally, teachers know that whatever its purpose, writing can
have a profound influence on learners.
Accomplished teachers understand the links between writing and the other
language arts; in particular they understand the foundational and complex relationship
between oral language and writing. They understand that what students articulate is
the basis for what they are able to write. Literacy teachers know that learning to write
involves knowing how writing and speech relate; how form and style vary depending
on different situations and purposes; and how a reader will react to what was written.
These teachers are aware of the range of oral language acquisition levels of their
students and how these levels influence students’ writing. Literacy teachers pay
special attention to the oral language acquisition levels of culturally and linguistically
diverse learners and students with exceptional needs. Accomplished teachers
know that without explicit instruction in and accommodations for their oral language
development, English language learners and students with exceptional needs may
have difficulty mastering the written language.
Accomplished teachers are well informed about the connections between
writing and reading. They understand that the ability to write has a positive and
reciprocal effect on students’ reading skills and that readers who understand how
texts are composed can apply this knowledge to their own writing. Literacy teachers
understand that to write certain genres and formats, students need first to have
experiences reading those kinds of texts. Additionally, teachers know that it is critical
for students to understand the relationship between viewing and writing. For example,
teachers know that careful observation of visual images can help students write with
greater detail, and teachers also appreciate that inserting illustrations in written texts
can help writers better communicate their meaning. (See Standard IX: Viewing and
Visual Literacy.)
Accomplished teachers are familiar with the stages and indicators of learners’
writing development. Teachers understand that the concept of emergent writing
applies to English language learners as well as to young children, and accomplished
teachers can distinguish between the ways these two populations learn to write.
Literacy teachers know that early attempts at spelling reflect children’s efforts
to communicate using print, and teachers realize that the way a child spells can
provide insight into the child’s literacy and linguistic growth. Accomplished teachers
understand that many aspects of writing fascinate children. They know that young
children are impressed when they first realize that written symbols convey spoken
words.
Accomplished teachers recognize that students of all ages can develop voice,
agency, and new ways of viewing the world and their place in it through written
expression. Literacy teachers understand that these aspects of writing become
especially important as older students become more adept at the writing process and
engage in independent writing such as personal journals, poetry, and creative prose.
Online venues such as social media and writing sites which provide communities of
practice regarding popular culture encourage writing outside of school. Accomplished
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teachers recognize the importance of encouraging older students in these personal
writing venues while maintaining a supportive, collaborative writing community in
school where all learners are encouraged to write for personal pleasure and interests
as well as for more formal academic and professional purposes.
Learning Environment
Accomplished teachers know that students learn to write through meaningful
writing engagements; therefore, they create environments conducive to writing
instruction and practice. They dedicate daily blocks of time for teaching the process
of writing and flexibly use writing as a tool for learning throughout the day. They
establish a print-rich environment with spaces for students to gather for guided
instruction, write for extended periods, confer with the teacher and peers, and share
their writing. They create a safe and comfortable setting where students can explore,
extend, and expand their writing repertoire, and they create predictable routines for
activities before, during, and after writing.
Accomplished teachers provide students with a variety of engaging and inviting
writing tools and materials, and they establish routines and procedures for how
materials and resources are accessed and managed. They scaffold writing tasks
by providing exemplars of various writing genres such as children’s literature and
student writing samples. They offer support within the classroom environment
through such instructional materials as anchor charts, word lists, or inspiring visual
images. Literacy teachers provide access to technologies to facilitate all aspects of
the writing process and allow students to create and publish innovative, authentic
written products. They allow students to self-select these tools. Space is allowed
within the classroom for students to organize and store their drafts and revisions.
Teachers provide ways to manage less formal writing, as well, such as content-area
journals. They also allocate space for students to store final writing products, or
they may allow students to maintain an electronic portfolio. Accomplished teachers
showcase writing in the classroom, school, and wider community.
Instruction
Accomplished teachers lead students to develop useful, practical, and
developmentally appropriate approaches to writing. Literacy teachers take into
consideration each learner’s age, grade, developmental level, prior knowledge, and
access to technology as they instruct students in the process and craft of writing.
Teachers integrate the skills of writing with those of the other language arts—reading,
listening, speaking, and viewing. Additionally, accomplished teachers integrate
writing across the curriculum and understand the correlation between writing and the
learning environment. They guide student writing across many genres and purposes.
Accomplished teachers teach students the process of writing. They show
students a variety of strategies for planning and generating ideas. They help students
draft writing and demonstrate how students can use their knowledge of the qualities
of good writing to guide revision. Literacy teachers teach students to use knowledge
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of grammar and mechanics to edit their writing, and they create meaningful
opportunities for students to share writing with multiple audiences. When giving
feedback to students, accomplished teachers focus on responding to the ideas and
organization of students’ writing, while helping them maintain the use of conventions.
Accomplished teachers clearly demonstrate that writing proficiency occurs along
a continuum rather than consisting of a set of discrete skills. They use oral language
as a foundation in developing the skill of writing. Literacy teachers integrate talk
throughout writing instruction, including allowing students to converse about ideas
before writing, to discuss writing during the revision stage, and to share and provide
feedback on one another’s final drafts.
Accomplished teachers guide students to be fluid and flexible writers across many
genres and forms, and they help students use writing to communicate effectively
with others, both in and outside of school. Teachers help students to discover the
wide array of purposes for writing, from reflecting and storytelling to informing and
persuading. Accomplished teachers teach students various forms of functional
writing, including writing for standardized tests, extended responses in content
areas, and writing letters. They use quality children’s literature or other mentor texts
to model how writers can achieve each purpose effectively. Literacy teachers use
many instructional strategies for helping students with writing, such as interactive
writing, paired writing, and teacher modeling. At times, teachers deliberately think
aloud while writing to demonstrate the metacognitive process of writing. They identify
skills to be developed and link them to types of writing that can target these skills,
while always focusing on students’ engagement.
Accomplished teachers regularly provide explicit lessons on the craft of writing.
For example, they might help students become aware of the power of using words
with specific connotations to develop a character or convey mood in a piece of fiction,
or they might show students how breaking a line in poetry can support meaning.
Teachers might show students how to vary the lengths of sentences in order to
create different moods, or they might show students how to create inviting leads.
Accomplished literacy teachers explain the importance of figurative language and
sensory imagery to convey meaning, heighten emotion, and engage the reader, and
they encourage students to use language in interesting ways.
Accomplished teachers help students find audiences for what they have written.
Teachers are aware of the need to foster a collaborative and supportive writing
community where students feel safe sharing their work with multiple audiences.
For example, they may have students take turns reading their favorite compositions
to the class and answering questions about them. Literacy teachers may create
opportunities for students to publish a class newsletter or class book, in hard copy or
online. Teachers may also help students develop face-to-face and online audiences
outside the classroom and school community.
Accomplished teachers are familiar with a variety of tools used to assess the
writing process and written products, including both the content of texts and the
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mechanics. Teachers know and use appropriate, varied, meaningful, differentiated, and
authentic formative and summative assessments. Teachers can analyze assessment
results and use the data to inform further instruction. Moreover, literacy teachers
may use feedback strategies, such as writing conferences, written comments, and
developmental descriptors, to help students hone their writing skills. Teachers also
help students analyze and meet the expectations contained in published rubrics,
including those that will be used to evaluate their writing on standardized tests. (See
Standard V—Assessment.)
Accomplished teachers use the results of assessments to differentiate writing
instruction for all students. Teachers use guided writing groups that are dynamic and
fluid and based on student needs. Teachers know that when planning lessons, it is
important to vary options related to the process and the products to meet the varied
interests within the class. A literacy teacher might display visual images and artifacts
to make a writing assignment more comprehensible or allow the final product to be
a podcast, rap, song, video, or an electronic book. Accomplished teachers increase
their students’ writing skills by helping them set challenging yet attainable goals and
by providing assistance in achieving those goals.
Accomplished teachers recognize that the students in their classroom may speak
a variety of foreign languages or English dialects at home and bring varying levels of
facility with oral and written English language skills to school. Literacy teachers adapt
their instruction accordingly by providing consistent scaffolds such as brainstorming;
writing students’ ideas on chart paper; and providing students with thesauruses,
bilingual dictionaries, child-friendly English dictionaries, and word walls. Accomplished
teachers know that these or similar accommodations can be applied to all students.
Accomplished teachers provide timely and constructive responses that help
students develop as writers. In reading a student-authored text, the teacher is careful
to respect each student’s individual voice and respond to what the student has to
say, honoring the student’s ownership of the text and viewpoint. Teachers interact
with students to engage them actively with what they have written and to help them
make informed decisions about revising and editing.
Accomplished teachers understand that students who are able to assess
their own work will become more independent writers, both in and out of school;
therefore, they guide their students in the techniques of self-assessment. Teachers
acknowledge that student self-assessment relies on reflection throughout the writing
process. Accomplished literacy teachers model reflection and self-assessment
strategies that help writers solve problems when they are writing. Teachers may ask
students to create a rubric to use when critiquing their own texts. Accomplished
teachers have students collect their writings over time in physical or digital portfolios
and then guide students to review their portfolios periodically to reflect upon their
progress and set future learning goals.
Accomplished teachers guide students to assess one another’s work. Teachers
show students that peer assessment should be a collaborative, formative process in
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which writers provide each other with constructive feedback so that they feel safe
and nurtured. In the classrooms of accomplished teachers, the peer assessment
process is collegial and collaborative, and the teacher ultimately remains responsible
for providing summative assessments and scoring the writing.
Accomplished teachers deliberately use available technology in developmentally
and instructionally appropriate ways to help students develop skill as writers and
achieve curriculum goals when creating written projects. Teachers use technology
to guide students to think about and practice writing as a recursive and interactive
process. Accomplished literacy teachers understand the ways that technology is
changing the way students conceptualize language and writing. They possess a
repertoire of ways to engage students with a wide variety of media to promote writing
in the classroom. These can include creating a digital book, responding to a blog, and
responding to literature through social media. Teachers understand that emerging
technologies can open up new publication possibilities in the classroom; teachers
guide students to use a range of writing projects that may incorporate graphics
and may be presented as brochures, multimedia presentations, Web pages, blogs,
podcasts, digital stories, or in other formats.
Accomplished teachers introduce students to the physical aspects of writing
both on paper and online. They engage their students in appropriate instruction in
handwriting skills, including manuscript and cursive letter formation, and they provide
support for students to practice writing legibly. Teachers also ensure that students
become proficient in the use of computer hardware and software related to writing,
acquiring keyboarding, navigational, and editing skills. Accomplished teachers
provide opportunities for students to apply these physical aspects of writing by
composing and revising a variety of authentic texts.
Accomplished teachers instruct students in the conventions of language.
Teachers understand that students become more motivated to master conventions
when they see how they can affect the clarity of a writer’s message. Therefore,
teachers use mentor texts and other examples of writing, including students’ own
texts when appropriate, to illustrate how important it is to employ correct grammar,
punctuation, and spelling to communicate effectively. Accomplished literacy teachers
help students understand that because written language can be revised and edited,
most readers hold it to a strict standard of conventional accuracy. Teachers model
for students how to use standard English and how to combine sentences without
distorting their meanings. Teachers help students write academically, following
proper standards and formats for reports and essays as well as creating or filling out
functional texts.
Accomplished teachers delight in the natural curiosity of children and in the
original ways in which early and middle childhood students express themselves in
writing. Teachers know that students develop best as writers when they are allowed
to compose texts on subjects that are student-centered and relevant. Accordingly,
literacy teachers regularly involve students in choosing their own topics and purposes
for writing in addition to completing teacher-directed writing activities.
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Connections
In their writing instruction, accomplished teachers make connections between
writing and the other language arts, and they also teach students to use writing
across the curriculum. Literacy teachers understand the reciprocal nature of reading
and writing. They recognize that students must have multiple opportunities to read
the genres and formats of texts they are expected to write; therefore, they use
children’s literature and other texts as prompts and models. As they share these
texts, they guide students in analyzing the authors’ craft and the conventions of the
genres. Teachers engage students in author studies because they recognize that
students learn a great deal from studying the craft of published writers. Teachers
demonstrate the process of analyzing how authors have used word choice, imagery,
and other elements of writing to convey their message. They may engage students
in analyzing the conventions of various writing formats, such as examining the ways
that authors of graphic novels use panels and gutters to convey a story or looking
at how authors of patterned books use repetition. In addition to having students
read other texts as models, literacy teachers engage students in reading throughout
writing instruction. They engage students in rereading drafts of their own and their
peers’ writing and teach students that an important aspect of revising writing is the
careful and thoughtful rereading of their own work.
Accomplished teachers integrate viewing and visual literacy with writing
instruction. They may use visual images such as paintings or photographs to inspire
writing. They also teach students the ways that visual images such as illustrations,
graphs, and charts can help authors communicate their message. They show
students how the visual aspects of the writing such as the size or shape of the font,
the placement of elements on the page, or the spacing of words can affect the
ideas the writing conveys. Literacy teachers help students understand and analyze
the particular conventions of style and format that are employed in various media
texts prior to composing them. For example, they may have students examine the
ways that presentations can be enhanced by the way the author arranges words and
images in their visuals, or they may ask students to examine the ways that colors and
images on Web pages affect their impact.
Accomplished teachers provide students with meaningful opportunities to
write across the curriculum. They understand that writing about learning depends
on understanding. They may ask students to engage in short, informal writing
prior to learning to activate prior knowledge or to write as a quick assessment of
students’ understanding. Literacy teachers provide students frequent opportunities
to write throughout content-area learning. For example, they may provide students
opportunities to write summaries after reading primary sources in social studies, to
keep journals in mathematics, or to record observations in learning logs in science.
Teachers also engage students in the writing process as a part of content-area
instruction and provide students with opportunities to compose formal written works.
They create opportunities for students to conduct research, take notes, synthesize
ideas, and use writing to communicate ideas in organized and effective ways. They
teach students the conventions of particular genres and formats of writing found
in the disciplines, from teaching how to write timelines and lab reports to helping
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students understand how historians use evidence to support an argument in an
essay.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers recognize the power
of writing. They are able to use their students’ worlds and words as springboards for
meaningful writing activities. They create writing opportunities that demonstrate for
students how writing can be an expressive, proactive tool for communicating with
others and for engaging with the world around them.
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LISTENING AND SPEAKING
Standard VIII
Listening and Speaking
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–language
arts teachers know, value, and teach oral language development,
listening, and both verbal and nonverbal communication skills as
essential components of literacy, and they provide opportunities
for all students to listen and speak for a variety of purposes and
audiences.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers know that listening
and speaking are more than the aural and oral aspects of communication. Literacy
teachers understand that these two processes are closely interrelated and that they
are foundational to language acquisition and to all aspects of literacy development.
Teachers purposefully plan opportunities for learners to engage in communication
through both formal and informal conversations. Teachers assess learning and
speaking skills and the strategies for learning these skills. They assess listening
and speaking separately, in connection with each other, and in combination with
the other language arts. Accomplished teachers realize that listening and speaking
are an essential part of a rich, robust language arts curriculum and should extend
throughout the content curricula.
Knowledge
Accomplished teachers are aware that oral language is the foundation for all
literacy skills. They know and understand the literature that examines the connection
between oral language development and the acquisition of reading and writing
skills, both for native English speakers and for students learning English as a new
language. Teachers understand that speaking and listening are the primary means
by which many children make sense of the world and communicate with others and
that development of oral language supports further development in reading, writing,
listening, and viewing. They recognize that the activities of speaking and listening
help students develop auditory discrimination, construct meaning, and develop
social relationships.
Accomplished teachers realize that listening is more than the physical act of
hearing. Literacy teachers understand that listening is a process that involves
receiving, attending to, understanding, analyzing, evaluating, and reacting to sounds
and messages. Accomplished teachers are knowledgeable about the various types
of listening, such as informational, critical, and social.
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Accomplished teachers recognize that students need to communicate effectively
through speaking. Teachers know that effective speaking involves such factors as
fluency; clarity; appropriate volume and speed; and awareness of audience, purpose,
and context.
Accomplished teachers know the types of spoken language that are appropriate
in various situations, and they are aware of the conventions of formal and informal
language. Teachers know that children initially overgeneralize the rules of English
grammar and need explicit instruction in words that are exceptions to those
rules, such as irregular past tense verb forms, irregular plural nouns, and irregular
comparative adjectives and adverbs such as “better” and “well.”
Accomplished teachers know that children acquire and use oral language as a
way to navigate their world in order to make their needs known, to ask questions, and
to interpret and control their environment. Teachers understand that oral language
acquisition is a natural developmental process, and they are deeply familiar with the
stages of typical oral language development. However, teachers also comprehend
that individuals acquire oral language skills at different paces and with varying degrees
of ease or difficulty. Teachers know that in order to expand students’ facility with and
appreciation of oral language, teachers must provide students with explicit instruction
and rich language experiences geared to their individual needs. Teachers also have
knowledge of the nonverbal cues, such as body language and facial expressions,
that children need to interpret and use to be effective speakers and listeners.
Accomplished teachers are aware of some of the common problems associated with
oral language development, and they access interventions for addressing them.
Accomplished teachers understand that different cultures apply different
conventions to verbal and nonverbal communication. For example, students may
come to school with different perceptions of the social rules governing appropriate
use of tone and volume in conversation. Accomplished teachers actively seek to
understand each student’s background of verbal and nonverbal communication and
to help students communicate well with their peers and with adults.
Learning Environment
Accomplished teachers create a mutually supportive classroom environment in
which all students feel safe to take part in classroom discussions and other exchanges
of oral language, and teachers frequently plan for small-group conversations to
ensure that all students have opportunities to express themselves. These teachers
model and explicitly teach group communication skills such as how to “disagree
agreeably,” how to respond to one another’s comments, and how to take turns.
Teachers recognize and make accommodations for students to use speaking and
listening to enhance their learning.
Accomplished teachers design their classrooms in ways that foster active
participation for all learners. Seating may be arranged for small-group work, and
open areas may be available for larger group activities. Accomplished teachers
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ensure that students can see each other during morning or community meetings
and are facing the learning activity for demonstrations, speakers, or presentations.
Teachers are sensitive to the effects that background noises and other sounds may
have on students’ listening and speaking, and they work to provide an optimum
learning environment.
Instruction
Accomplished teachers are themselves articulate speakers and sensitive listeners
who demonstrate excellent oral language skills in their day-to-day leadership in the
classroom and throughout the school community. They help students understand
the importance of listening and speaking. Literacy teachers purposefully model
how to use language in a variety of settings related to learning activities and social
interactions. They demonstrate how to make connections between previous and
new oral language experiences, and they encourage students to do the same. For
example, after participating with the teacher in a teacher-led conference, students
may take the initiative in student-led conferences that include parents and teachers.
Accomplished teachers are deliberate and purposeful in their teaching of listening
skills throughout the early and middle childhood levels. They teach students skills
such as following single- and multi-step directions, drawing conclusions about what
they have heard, showing respect for a speaker, and knowing when they need to
respond to a question. Teachers emphasize comprehension and meaning-making
as an essential part of active listening. They provide opportunities for students to
develop higher-level thinking skills as they listen for specific purposes. Accomplished
literacy teachers are able to teach students to discriminate between listening as a
conversational courtesy and listening as a vital comprehension skill.
Accomplished teachers deliberately structure developmentally appropriate
learning activities to promote students’ playful discovery of language, their sense
of oral language conventions, and their ability to interpret the world through oral
language. Students may be invited to apply oral communication skills in multiple
ways that are appropriate for the classroom setting. For example, students can role
play, reenact stories, and take part in poetry readings and Readers’ Theater, all of
which make listening and speaking engaging, purposeful, and enjoyable.
Accomplished teachers intervene to increase students’ oral language proficiency.
For example, if a student says, “I goed to Grandma’s,” the teacher might respond,
“Oh, you went to Grandma’s,” thereby modeling standard English without criticizing
the student’s error. Such instruction helps students become more capable, confident
users of conventional language. Although they intervene to increase students’
language proficiency, accomplished literacy teachers are always mindful to respect
students’ home languages and stages in speaking and listening development.
Accomplished teachers instruct students in the techniques of formal and informal
speaking, such as identifying their audience and purpose, using eye contact,
and talking at an appropriate volume and speed. Teachers assist students in
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understanding how phrasing and tone impact speech, and they model and provide
explicit instruction on how students can control these aspects of speech in order to
become more effective communicators. Teachers provide opportunities for students
to develop and practice both formal and informal presentation skills, increasing the
public and performance aspects as students gain knowledge and proficiency. For
example, prior to a school-wide poetry reading for older students, teachers would
practice with students to help them gain confidence, proficiency, and fluency.
Accomplished teachers offer many opportunities for students to speak with
and listen to one another and their teachers in the whole class, small groups, and
pairs. Teachers carefully scaffold their teaching of listening and speaking in order to
differentiate instruction and meet the needs of all students, including but not limited
to students with language and speech impairments, English language learners, and
students with other communication challenges. Accomplished literacy teachers
accommodate for differences in the ways students learn. They understand that some
students naturally and easily process information through listening and speaking,
whereas other students need to be taught listening and speaking processing
skills. Teachers use assessment data and student records from school and home
when developing instructional plans to support students’ speaking and listening
development.
Accomplished teachers take advantage of variations in dialect, language
background, and personal experiences within their learning communities as
resources for teaching students about linguistic and cultural diversity. They are also
adept at meeting the dual goals of respecting language diversity and helping students
acquire the necessary skills for speaking standard English. Literacy teachers help
students understand and respect cultural differences in nonverbal communication
systems as well. They model for students how body language and gestures are
powerful communicative skills that add to the spoken message. For example, when
giving practical directions such as dismissing students for lunch, accomplished
teachers supplement oral instructions with relevant gestures and visual cues. (See
Standard II—Equity, Fairness, and Diversity and Standard III—Learning Environment.)
Accomplished teachers understand the evolving role that technology plays
in assisting students in learning how to listen and speak, and they employ such
technology when it is possible and appropriate to do so. Teachers are aware of
language programs that allow students to practice listening and speaking with
engaging, interactive computer software. Literacy teachers realize that computermediated programs are used to enhance the modeling, interacting, and instruction
that happen in the classroom and are parts of a language-rich, socially mediated
classroom learning community.
Accomplished teachers employ a variety of formal and informal evaluation
processes and tools that capture the essence of students’ developing skills in the
areas of speaking and listening. They construct their classroom environments,
routines, and schedules in ways that allow them to seamlessly conduct ongoing
assessments of individuals and groups. Teachers use a variety of tools to assess
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students’ oral language uses, such as anecdotal records, language samples, rubrics,
developmental growth indicators, retelling, and digital recordings of students’
speech. Teachers design assignments such as book talks and project presentations
that include embedded opportunities to assess speaking and listening skills. They
understand the progression of oral language from playground conversations to more
sophisticated academic language usage. Literacy teachers collaborate with students
to create rubrics related to listening and speaking skills. For example, they might
develop rubrics for oral presentations. Teachers use oral language in formal interviews
and informal conversations with students to assess student learning, progress, and
attitudes in order to guide instructional decisions. (See Standard V—Assessment.)
Accomplished teachers use a combination of assessment formats when evaluating
student speaking and listening skills as well as when using speaking and listening
to assess other content areas. They create opportunities for student-to-student
and student-to-teacher talks and are skilled in assessing student speech patterns,
word usage, and use of sentence structure. Literacy teachers use oral assessments,
knowing that some students can express their understandings better through the
spoken word than the written word. When students demonstrate difficulty with oral
or aural skills, teachers confer with experts to find the most appropriate and effective
interventions.
Accomplished teachers provide students with opportunities to assess their own
progress in listening and speaking as well as the progress of their peers. Teachers
deliberately teach students the assessment criteria ahead of time. Student selfassessment in listening and speaking may extend to work in other classrooms and
to speaking and listening activities within their families and the greater community.
Connections
Accomplished teachers support students’ listening and speaking beyond the
classroom. In addition to collaborating with other teachers to provide support and
opportunities for students to expand their knowledge, teachers find community
connections that will celebrate and support listening and speaking. For example,
poetry readings, presentations, and debate clubs are traditional opportunities for
listening and speaking outside the classroom.
Accomplished teachers recognize the connections that emerging technologies
bring to the classroom. For example, having students listen to professional audio
podcasts and then create their own audio podcasts will capitalize on the reciprocal
connection between listening and speaking. Literacy teachers may also draw on
students’ listening and speaking when designing digital stories that will be shared
with an audience beyond the classroom. Accomplished teachers are aware of the
impact that new technologies have on students’ abilities to use listening and speaking
in the real world.
Accomplished teachers ensure that listening and speaking opportunities enhance
the learning in other content areas. Examples might include listening to historic
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speeches in social studies to determine how the speaker’s inflection and tone
enhance the communication of main ideas and supporting details, listening to multistep directions in physical education when learning games, listening to voices and
instruments in interpreting music, and listening attentively for correct pronunciation
of words in a foreign language. Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy
teachers realize that listening and speaking skills are critical foundations of a rich
language arts curriculum.
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VIEWING AND VISUAL LITERACY
Standard IX
Viewing and Visual Literacy
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers know, value, and teach viewing and visual
literacy as essential components of literacy instruction in order
to prepare students to interpret and interact with an increasingly
visual world.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers know that students
are inundated with information in both print and non-print forms and that viewing skills
and visual literacy are critical in today’s media-saturated society. Teachers realize that
reading non-print texts requires explicit instruction in viewing skills and strategies,
and they consider viewing to be just as essential to literacy development as the skills
of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. They realize that today’s students live
in a digital world and that viewing is no longer a passive undertaking. Viewing has
evolved because of a proliferation of visual media and emerging technologies. It has
become an interactive, reciprocal process known as visual literacy, which involves
being able to decode, interpret, understand, and encode meaning through visual
language. Accomplished teachers are aware of this evolving literacy. They provide an
environment that is conducive to learning about and through an array of visual media
because they believe it is crucial for students to interpret the world beyond traditional
print texts. Literacy teachers use visual media in both instruction and assessment to
provide authentic ways for students to make meaning and demonstrate understanding
as well as to deepen content-area knowledge in all domains.
Knowledge
Accomplished teachers understand that students need a significant skill-set to
develop viewing and visual literacy. This repertoire includes the ability to analyze
visual images; interpret graphic representations; interpret and evaluate non-print,
visual media messages; and employ visual media as a way to make meaning and
communicate. Visual literacy also incorporates the ability to analyze the purposes of
visual texts, including for propaganda, commercial, aesthetic, and intellectual uses.
Teachers understand that today’s students must learn to be both critical consumers
and skilled producers of many visual media. Therefore, accomplished literacy
teachers facilitate students’ interactions with the visual environment as an important
part of the learning process.
Accomplished teachers know that the concept of what constitutes a text has
expanded beyond printed texts. Printed texts are those that involve encoding
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and decoding alphabetic and other standard printed symbols in order to make
meaning. Non-print visual texts include but are not limited to videos, illustrations,
graphs, collages, body language, sign language, wordless books, picture symbols,
photographs, television programs, billboards, plays, films, and works of art such as
sculptures, paintings, or stage sets.
Accomplished teachers understand that in order to read the full range of visual
information, students must learn how to interpret a wide range of visual cues. These
include such elements as text features; details and patterns in photographs, videos,
and interactive games; or the body language and facial expressions that accompany
speech and modify its meaning. Teachers know that visual information often adds
layers of significance beyond that conveyed in the written word. For example, an
accomplished teacher knows to direct students to information contained in a bar
graph accompanying an informational text and how to extend the discussion by
identifying other ways the author might have conveyed the information.
Accomplished teachers realize that visual media transform and mold society;
therefore, they recognize how important it is for their students to become informed
consumers and producers of visual media such as Web sites, blogs, email, video
clips, software, video games, and other current and emerging technologies. They
understand that if students are to compete within a global society, they must not
only be critical consumers of visual media but also be creative producers who are
capable of having a positive impact on the economy. Literacy teachers embrace new
technology and find innovative uses of traditional technologies.
Since this field is continuously evolving, accomplished teachers are flexible and
open to new ways of understanding visual literacy. Teachers are themselves skilled
viewers, able to analyze and interpret a wide variety of visual texts. They seek to
become knowledgeable about the types of viewing experiences their students have—
what television shows students see, what movies they go to, what Web sites they
visit. Teachers know how to help students become reflective and analytic viewers
both at school and at home. They seek out professional development in this area.
They might take a course on critical reading to develop a deeper understanding of
how visual media are read, or they might attend a workshop on how to integrate the
use of video clips into their literacy instruction. They might help colleagues develop
visual literacy by engaging in critical conversations about the images found within
the school environment as well as in the community. For example, an accomplished
teacher might recognize cultural bias in a poster encouraging parental involvement
and address it with school administrators.
Environment
Accomplished teachers create visually rich environments and varied learning
experiences in physical learning spaces, which make certain that all students learn
how to interpret, analyze, comprehend, and create many forms of visual texts.
Visual and physical environmental cues serve as important supports for student
learning, particularly for the academic and social development of emergent readers
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and students for whom English is a new language, students with hearing loss, and
students from culturally and dialectally diverse backgrounds.
Accomplished teachers purposefully plan for students to interact with visual
texts. They construct an environment open to the inquiring nature of early and middle
childhood students and help all students interact with their visual environment as an
important part of the learning process. Literacy teachers plan extended amounts of
time for students to have purposeful conversations with one another in order to build
students’ critical viewing skills while extending and expanding important socialization
skills. Teachers also deliberately teach students how to visually navigate an array of
texts through a variety of settings. For example, teachers help students understand
the different navigation skills needed between both fiction and non-fiction books and
print and non-print resources.
Accomplished teachers know the importance of providing a rich physical
environment that promotes visual literacy through a deliberate saturation of
environmental print such as word walls, content and motivational posters, word
banks, and shared poetry. For example, teachers may place labels containing both
visual images and words in various parts of the classroom to reinforce academic
vocabulary for students who have a limited command of the written word. Literacy
teachers also ensure that the physical environment is inviting to whole group, small
group, and individual visual literacy skill development by allowing students access to
materials for additional literacy enhancement. Teachers provide their students with
opportunities to view, analyze, and discuss interpretations of visual media such as
photographs, logos, movies, billboards, advertisements, documentaries, TV shows,
plays, Internet designs, works of art, magazines and newspapers.
Accomplished teachers are sensitive to gaps in student access to various visual
media and technologies. They are aware that some students have interacted with
visual media and technology from an early age while for others the classroom may
be the only place they interact with these media. Because accomplished teachers
consider viewing as an essential element in the process of developing students’
literacy, they seek to provide equitable access for all students through purposeful
and planned engagements. Literacy teachers believe that incorporating visual media
seamlessly and in developmentally appropriate ways will advance learning for all
students.
Instruction
Accomplished teachers understand that developing students’ abilities to interpret
and manipulate visual elements requires purposeful and planned instruction. They
teach their students how to be discriminating viewers who can synthesize the
message and identify the purpose of a given medium and also recognize bias and
propaganda embedded in visual media. For example, accomplished literacy teachers
might have groups of students critically analyze images on a Web site to identify
examples of bias and discuss the social ramifications. Teachers critically discuss with
students visual media ethics, the ways in which visual media reflect and shape the
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values of a society, and the appropriate uses of different visual media. Accomplished
teachers are able to reflect upon a given medium’s potential impact on society at
large and facilitate their students’ understandings of these issues.
Accomplished teachers have clear learning goals when they teach viewing
and visual literacy to early and middle childhood students. They recognize that it is
important to purposefully and explicitly teach students to read and create multiple
forms of visual media so that they can make meaning and sense of the world. They
help learners use illustrations to further understand written materials. They support
and extend learning generated from printed texts by helping students understand
how to interpret and create illustrations, graphs, tables, charts, maps, and other nonprint graphic features often found in concert with printed text. Literacy teachers offer
early and middle childhood students frequent opportunities to develop higher-level
thinking skills as they guide students in the use of visuals. For example, with older
students, teachers may discuss the concept of framing, helping students to analyze
what elements of an event or scene a photographer has chosen to include and
exclude. Then they might ask students to frame an image themselves.
Accomplished teachers help students develop a repertoire of skills for interpreting
and creating visual texts. Much in the way that teachers introduce and reintroduce
literacy elements throughout elementary and intermediate grades with increased
sophistication and complexity, accomplished literacy teachers recognize that
students of all ages need them to model and scaffold how to comprehend and
create visual texts. Teachers begin by providing knowledge of visual literacy and
viewing. Teachers can help students navigate visual texts by helping them know
what to look at first in an image that may be new or complex in its design. Teachers
build comprehension by helping students identify and describe the similarities and
differences among oral, written, and visual texts, and they model how students can
use this understanding to interpret visual texts and make decisions about which
visual media to use in communicating their ideas. For example, literacy teachers may
ask students to compare a book and a film, discussing the point of view expressed
in each, analyzing the different techniques used to create the point of view, and
evaluating the effectiveness of each.
Accomplished teachers deliberately teach students the specific critical thinking
skills necessary to analyze and evaluate visual media. By assisting students in
the interpretation and production of visual language through the use of non-print
texts, literacy teachers support students to become more knowledgeable and
sophisticated consumers and producers of all forms of communication. For example,
students of accomplished teachers will synthesize visual media such as graphs or
photographs to enhance their expository writing. These students have learned to
recognize the value visual images have in interpreting new and complex information.
An accomplished literacy teacher might explicitly model how to read the illustrations
in children’s literature so that students develop an understanding of how the meaning
of the written word can be altered or extended by such visual elements as characters’
facial expressions or the use of color to create mood.
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Accomplished teachers use various technological resources in helping early and
middle childhood students to express themselves, and they explicitly model how to
access and use various aspects of current and emerging visual media appropriately.
For example, a kindergarten teacher might use the interactive white board to allow
students to create a shared drawing after taking a virtual field trip to a zoo. Teachers
might have students expand their ideas and connect with others within and beyond
the school community through the use of technology. They might provide students
with digital cameras in order to capture images from the students’ home cultures and
then have students develop autobiographical photo essays as a means of building a
shared classroom community.
Accomplished teachers teach students to use visual media to explain, persuade,
and evaluate. Additionally, teachers model for students how to use visual media to
share perspectives, opinions, and understandings. The students of accomplished
teachers learn that communicating to an audience, whether live or virtual, requires an
understanding of how the message will be received. For example, the teacher might
ask students to develop a critical review of a book by creating a book advertisement
using digital technology. The advertisement might be posted on a school Web site
where students in other grades, regions, or countries could comment on the post.
Accomplished teachers use visual media to engage students in metacognitive
processes, or knowledge of their own thoughts. For example, students might use
technological tools to create graphic organizers or thinking maps. A teacher might
have students find examples of accomplished works of art that evoke feelings similar
to those produced by a poem, or a teacher might ask students to respond to literature
by graphically representing the theme of a story. Literacy teachers understand that
it is through the use of metacognition that students conceptualize their learning
experiences, understand the purpose of learning, and become motivated to seek
new knowledge.
Accomplished teachers address with their students the ethical issues that arise
for producers and consumers of visual media. A teacher might have students watch
a video clip of an advertisement for a new toy and discuss how different audiences
might be influenced by the advertisement. When engaging students in any form of
communication, teachers make students cognizant of the potential consequences of
communicating through emerging technologies and explain how to navigate these
technologies safely, securely, and appropriately. For example, teachers explicitly
teach students about Internet safety, cyber-bullying, sharing information with others
on the Internet, and the consequences of transmitting messages and images via
digital technologies. Literacy teachers are familiar with the persuasive and motivating
nature of popular culture and help students become aware of its forces.
Accomplished teachers believe that assessment is a recursive process that affords
teachers the opportunity to gain insight into students’ needs. Literacy teachers engage
in ongoing assessments of students’ viewing skills, and they provide written and oral
feedback to students aimed specifically at each student’s level of development and
degree of viewing skills and strategies. Teachers evaluate the extent to which their
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students are discriminating consumers and producers of visual communication by
using all the language arts. For instance, teachers listen carefully as students discuss
visual texts in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class. They have students write about
visual texts, for example by writing captions for photographs, describing in a journal
why they watch certain television shows, or writing a review of a film they have seen
or a Web site they have visited. They have students produce visual texts, from early
drawings and scribbles to illustrated reports or multimedia presentations. Teachers
assess and reflect on both the processes students follow and the products they
create, and then teachers alter their instruction accordingly. Teachers share rubrics
for assessments with students and have students help create appropriate rubrics for
projects as well. An important part of the evaluation of students in the area of viewing
is helping them become self-evaluators, aware of their own developing visual literacy.
Connections
Accomplished teachers know that skillful use of visual media in the classroom
promotes learning that flows seamlessly from the literal to the deeply conceptual,
thus increasing students’ critical reading and thinking skills through all the language
arts. Literacy teachers know that critical viewing skills must be explicitly taught but are
best learned in concert with reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Teachers keep
meaning-making at the heart of their instruction and help students see connections
and disparities between the skills needed to read and write traditional texts and
those needed to view and compose visual texts. For example, a teacher might
explain the difference between reading a story and viewing an image on a billboard.
Accomplished teachers help students understand the interrelation of sounds and
visual elements in media such as films, speeches, musical performances, and Web
pages. For example, prior to showing a film in class, a teacher might help students
understand the language of film, including such elements as the filmmaker’s use of
camera angles, lights, sound, editing, and set design. In addition, a teacher might
show a film clip without the accompanying music to help students consider the way
music or sound effects add deeper meaning to visual images.
Alert to opportunities to integrate viewing and visual literacy with other language
arts and other content areas, accomplished teachers might ask students to create
a comic strip to retell an event during a period in history, create mosaics to depict a
theme in a story, or create a short film to explore social issues. Teachers encourage
students to decode and encode visual messages. An accomplished teacher might
have students maintain a content-area journal in which students draw graphic images
to conceptualize a mathematical problem or better understand a science concept
such as the food chain. They recognize that visual literacy provides students with the
ability to make meaning beyond the written word. Accomplished early and middle
childhood literacy teachers realize that strengthening viewing skills and visual literacy
affords students multiple ways of understanding the world and of demonstrating that
understanding.
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Standard X
Literacy Across the Curriculum
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers understand the reciprocal and interrelated
nature of the literacy processes of reading, writing, listening,
speaking, and viewing and engage students in language arts
processes in all disciplines.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers are aware of the
importance of integrating literacy instruction. They understand that integrated
literacy instruction involves two interrelated concepts. The first is the well-established
principle that although the five language arts—reading, writing, listening, speaking,
and viewing—are distinct processes requiring specialized skills, they are also
mutually reinforcing and cannot be taught in isolation. The second is that teachers
integrate the language arts across other disciplines. They incorporate content area
texts in their literacy instruction and work to strengthen their students’ literacy skills
in content areas beyond literacy. Although accomplished teachers recognize the
need for concentrated blocks of time focused on the teaching of reading–language
arts, they also connect their literacy instruction with student learning in the other
disciplines. Accomplished literacy teachers constantly engage students in enlarging
their view of the world and expanding their literacy skills by having them read, write,
speak, listen, and view across the curriculum.
Understanding the Reciprocal Nature of Language Processes
Accomplished teachers know that all areas of the language arts are mutually
reinforcing and that growth in one area often transfers to the others. Therefore, in the
classrooms of accomplished teachers, the reciprocal nature of the language arts is
acknowledged in purposeful lessons that incorporate numerous combinations of the
different skills.
Accomplished teachers read texts aloud to students as one way of integrating the
language arts processes. For example, when teachers point to a text as they read it
aloud, younger students learn to match the spoken word to the written word; gain
an understanding of directional concepts; and use picture cues, auditory cues, and
predictable patterns to gain meaning from text. When teachers read aloud to older
students, the teachers model fluency, tone, emphasis, and phrasing, demonstrating
the ways in which the speaker’s control of these elements can improve the listener’s
comprehension. Teachers also use readalouds to inspire writing and speaking.
Teachers might share simple, well-written texts as models to encourage student
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writing and illustrating as well as a springboard for inviting students to respond orally.
When students are listening to, reading, and discussing texts, accomplished teachers
might analyze the ways in which authors use language in interesting and descriptive
ways. For example, as they share poetry or nursery rhymes, literacy teachers help
students listen for rhythm and rhyme and then support students as they experiment
with these components in their own writing or speech.
Accomplished teachers integrate oral and written language development by
engaging in frequent instructional conversations with students, individually or in small
groups, to talk about texts. Teachers also integrate oral and written language and
develop higher level thinking by having students write about what they have heard
or discussed. Teachers may encourage students to employ technological tools as
means of discussing texts. For example, the teacher might encourage students to
use social networking to discuss their responses to books they have read, plays they
have seen, or lyrics they have heard.
Accomplished teachers know that students may be more successful in some
language arts than others and that tapping into a student’s assets in one area may
provide momentum for growth in another. For example, a struggling reader who
possesses strong interpretive skills when viewing and discussing a film can be
taught to apply these skills to reading a text. Similarly, students who are reluctant
to participate in class discussions may gradually gain confidence by developing
language competencies through their writing and then be more willing to share their
thoughts orally.
When accomplished teachers plan assignments that integrate all the language
arts, they often have the opportunity to engage their students in high-level critical
thinking and creative connections. For example, creating a visual presentation may
require students to conduct research using print and non-print texts; to write and
organize notes; to create a formal presentation; to design layouts and captions
for the information; and to orally or visually present the final result. When planning
instruction that integrates the five language arts, literacy teachers differentiate based
on the age levels, interests, and abilities of their diverse students, including general
education students, students with exceptional needs, and English language learners,
regardless of whether they are achieving at, below, or above grade level.
Teaching Literacy Across the Curriculum
Accomplished teachers know that content-area literacy instruction can be delivered
in multifaceted ways, and they provide their students with regular opportunities to
read, write, and view science, social studies, mathematics, and other technical texts
during literacy instruction. Literacy teachers also use the language arts to foster
content-area learning. Across the content areas, teachers provide students with
strategies for reading textbooks and other texts. For example, they teach students
to use text features such as boldface print and headers to navigate informational
texts, both to obtain an overview of the contents and to locate specific information
quickly. Teachers help students understand that content-area texts are not always
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linear and teach them to navigate these texts in flexible ways. Teachers also help
students learn to interpret and critique visual texts in the content areas. For example,
they teach students to read graphs and charts and equations in mathematical texts.
Accomplished literacy teachers integrate writing across the curriculum. They know that
informal writing, including journals, learning logs, and summaries, can help reinforce
content-area learning. They provide students with multiple, meaningful opportunities
to compose descriptive, narrative, informational, expository, and persuasive texts
across the curriculum and teach students the conventions of various writing genres
found in the content areas. For example, a teacher might create an opportunity for
students to draft, revise, and mail a letter to the editor about a science topic.
Accomplished teachers help students acquire content-area vocabulary in all the
subject areas. They employ instructional strategies that best support vocabulary
learning and purposefully plan for explicit instruction in this area. Whenever possible,
they teach vocabulary through connected texts such as primary documents, contentarea texts, or various print and non-print media. They provide frequent opportunities
for students to hear, read, and discuss high-quality children’s literature in order to build
conceptual understanding and deepen understanding of content-area vocabulary.
They intentionally use new vocabulary during instruction and conversations to provide
multiple exposures to words and to solidify understanding of terminology related to
complex concepts, systems, or historical events and eras. They help students employ
knowledge of morphemes in order to infer meaning of new words they encounter in
content-area reading. Accomplished literacy teachers intentionally offer opportunities
for students to encounter and use content-area vocabulary in their reading, writing,
and speaking as well as to build conceptual knowledge by using visuals such as
photographs or by exploring the many facets of a word by using a graphic organizer.
Accomplished teachers help students understand the various genres, purposes,
audiences, and conventions of content-area texts. Teachers help students learn to
distinguish among facts, opinions, and reasoned judgments and to evaluate the
author’s position or point of view in social studies texts. Literacy teachers often
coordinate thematic, interdisciplinary, inquiry-based, and project-based instruction
that allows students to shape and express their ideas across the curriculum. For
example, older students might be asked to read stories about the ocean in reading–
language arts at the same time that they learn about marine life in science and study
the ocean maps and island geography in social studies.
As they integrate literacy instruction with content-area instruction, accomplished
teachers teach students to use the specialized literacy skills necessary for reading
and writing across each content area. In the social studies, they teach students
to read and examine the bias of both primary and secondary sources. They also
teach students to write various documents, such as petitions or letters to the editor,
necessary for civic life. Accomplished literacy teachers help students learn how to
comprehend the dense vocabulary and the visual features, such as diagrams and
charts, common in science texts. They also teach students to compose genres of
writing common in science, such as observation logs and lab reports.
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Accomplished teachers help students become critical readers in mathematics—
readers who are able to interpret mathematical texts that may include specialized
symbols. They teach students to write using numerical expressions, pictures, and
words to solve mathematical problems. Teachers also integrate literacy in other
content areas. For example, accomplished literacy teachers provide opportunities for
students to engage in visual and performing arts and to respond to print and visual
texts, such as drawing a picture after a read-aloud. They also teach students to use
the language arts to respond to and analyze works of art, such as writing a response
to a painting.
Accomplished teachers understand the role that language arts instruction has
in the health and physical education curriculum. Literacy teachers are familiar with
and use a variety of texts related to health and physical education to assist students
in making personal, academic, and global connections to these subjects. These
texts deliver messages of how individual health choices have short- and long-term
influence, both positive and negative, on one’s quality of life. Furthermore, teachers
recognize the influence that athletics and athletes have in students’ lives and provide
opportunities for them to read and write about favorite sports and sports figures.
Literacy teachers create research and publishing opportunities for students to express
ways to promote good hygiene and a healthy lifestyle. For instance, young students
might read about the latest food pyramid and record their dinners for a week in a
log. Afterward, they might discuss the class findings and make connections to their
reading by writing about ways they can improve their diets. Older students could
analyze statistics from a graph on the current state of children’s health, write their
opinions of current trends, and discuss ways in which they could improve their wellbeing.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers purposefully connect
all the language arts and effectively integrate literacy across the content areas to help
students increase their ability to construct meaning from texts, take ownership of
new learning, and develop a dynamic literate life.
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AND REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER
Standard XI
Teacher as Learner
and Reflective Practitioner
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers seek to improve their knowledge and
practice through a recursive process of learning and reflecting.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers recognize that literacy
is an evolving field, one in which teachers must employ their professional judgment to
reflect on and discern what constitutes sound practice, even when facing challenges
that do not lend themselves to simple solutions. They make daily reflection a priority
because of its importance as a learning tool. Accomplished literacy teachers know
that learning and reflection are recursive and that they have a positive impact on
instructional practice, which ultimately improves student literacy.
Accomplished teachers are positive role models of lifelong learning for their
students as well as for their professional communities. Accomplished literacy teachers
are risk takers, willing to learn about and try new teaching strategies that may improve
the effectiveness of their instruction. They make their processes of learning and
reflecting visible to their students and their professional learning communities in order
to encourage enthusiasm for inquiry. Their students view them as passionate partners
in learning. Accomplished literacy teachers are avid readers and effective, confident
writers who reflect on and share knowledge in local and global communities. They
continue to grow as readers and writers to improve their instruction.
Accomplished teachers reflect on and learn from both their strengths and their
weaknesses. They examine the ways in which their particular cultural backgrounds,
values, biases, and experiences affect their beliefs, behaviors, and relationships. They
reflect on how all these elements may influence what they teach, how they teach, and
how they interact with students. Accomplished teachers have learned to be reflective
before, during, and after they teach. They seek to broaden their perspectives in order
to improve their effectiveness within a global and increasingly diverse environment.
Accomplished teachers stay abreast of significant research findings in their field
and related areas. They are critical consumers of intellectual content. They are able
to evaluate research according to criteria such as validity, reliability, potential biases,
and relevance to their practice, and they reflect on the implications of research for
their practice. They are able to apply the same criteria to evaluate data and use the
information to inform instruction as appropriate. In addition, they reflect on—and
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incorporate into their daily instruction—curriculum guides; local, state, and national
standards; and professional publications.
Accomplished teachers seize opportunities to learn from their students and their
colleagues—teachers, specialists, and administrators—and view others as rich
sources of information, perspective, and insight. Accomplished literacy teachers
learn and reflect on their teaching as they engage in communities of practice. They
intentionally seek to learn from and reflect on culturally diverse resources in their
local communities while also maintaining a global perspective. For example, teachers
may partner with local colleges and universities on literacy projects as well as with
international organizations involved in literacy instruction. Accomplished literacy
teachers consistently learn from long- and short-term professional development
opportunities beyond those mandated by the district or state, including but not
limited to courses, conferences, classroom observations, webinars, book studies,
and strategy-sharing sessions with colleagues.
Accomplished teachers view each moment, each day, and each year as another
opportunity to reflect on teaching, learning, and assessment; therefore, they set both
short- and long-term goals. These goals improve the quality of their instructional
practice and enhance their profession. Accomplished literacy teachers take the
time and make the effort to carefully preview and reflect on instructional materials
before employing them with their students. Teachers’ professional reflections are
vigorous and significant. Literacy teachers are perceptive observers and deliberate
communicators who intuitively consider the individual needs and the multiple
perspectives of student populations.
For accomplished teachers, learning and reflecting are continuous. They engage
in reflection both individually and in groups. They dialogue with other professionals
to mutually reflect on their practices. They blend intuitive, spontaneous reflection
with more rigorous, structured analysis. Accomplished literacy teachers search their
own experiences, regularly pondering the events of the day. They understand that
reflection can be more than a tool to be used after teaching has occurred; it can also
occur in the moment. When possible, literacy teachers engage in formal and informal
action research to inform their practice and the field of literacy. Through continual
reflection and inquiry, teachers weave together their classroom experiences with
their knowledge of established theory and current research in order to constantly
reinvigorate their practice. Accomplished teachers see reflection as a professional
resource, and they know that the results may sometimes be read and reviewed
by themselves alone and at other times may be shared with other educators and
stakeholders.
Accomplished teachers reflect on their assessment practices, questioning
whether they are using the most appropriate tools and methods for their purposes
and, when necessary, finding assessments that are better aligned with their needs.
Accomplished literacy teachers reflect on the implications of assessment data and
use them to inform their instructional practice. When they are part of a cross-curricular
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team, accomplished teachers share their assessment findings to learn about and
improve classroom practice.
As a result of ongoing learning and rigorous reflection, accomplished teachers
have well developed positions on major issues in the field of literacy. Accomplished
teachers know why they make deliberate instructional decisions, and they reflect on
the results to inform further instruction. Teachers embrace the lifelong study of the art
and science of teaching in order to ensure continued professional growth. Literacy
teachers exemplify the highest ideals of scholarship and ethics. Literacy teachers take
responsibility for their own educational advancement, employ professional standards
to assess their practice, and reflect to ensure that they teach with effectiveness and
dignity.
Accomplished teachers realize that they must adapt to societal changes.
Teachers recognize that the demands of their craft will change over time; indeed,
they may change with each class and each student. Accomplished literacy teachers
reflect on how issues within and outside their immediate classrooms influence their
students. They seek to learn more about the evolving processes of reading, writing,
listening, speaking, and viewing, and they reflect on their approaches to the teaching
of all literacy skills. They focus on the specific needs of individual learners and ask
themselves how they can best meet those needs.
Accomplished teachers draw on many partners when learning and reflecting.
They critically analyze the choices they make and justify the underlying principles of
their teaching to gain insight into their knowledge and skills. They seek, construct,
and apply new knowledge that is relevant to the classroom and profession and
that advances student learning. Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy
teachers understand that they must to engage in learning and reflection in order to
continually guide and improve their practice.
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COLLABORATION WITH FAMILIES
AND COMMUNITIES
Standard XII
Collaboration with Families
and Communities
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers develop positive and mutually supportive
relationships with family and community members to achieve
common goals for the literacy education of all students.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers realize that families are
the first and foremost educators of their children and that families can be teachers’
strongest allies. Teachers draw on family members’ observations of their children
to inform their teaching. Teachers also capitalize on the fact that families have a
powerful influence on their children’s development and on their attitudes toward
learning and school. Accomplished teachers recognize that the larger community
can have a pervasive influence on students’ educational experiences, and teachers
collaborate with a range of stakeholders to enhance education and support families.
Literacy teachers take initiative to form alliances with parents, families, and community
members on behalf of the literacy development of all their students.
Forming Meaningful Partnerships with Families
Accomplished teachers know that effective communication can help them form
meaningful partnerships with families and that teacher-family partnerships improve
student learning. Teachers establish open, two-way communication with families
early in the school year, seeking relevant information concerning each student’s
language history, background, culture, reading interests, learning goals, and home
life. Teachers are aware of the increasingly complex and diverse nature of families,
and they respect all types of families in their communications. Literacy teachers may
collaborate with students’ other teachers prior to reaching out to parents concerning
important topics such as students’ learning assignments, academic growth, literacy
development, behaviors, and class accomplishments.
Accomplished teachers establish flexible communication with families. For
example, they offer to meet outside the school day with parents whose work
schedules conflict with the regular school schedule. If parents are unable to meet
face-to-face, teachers make arrangements to converse in the most convenient way,
such as via phone, letter, student planner, e-mail, texting, or through other digital
devices. Teachers determine the most effective ways to communicate with all parents.
Teachers have communications translated into the home language when this is both
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AND COMMUNITIES
appropriate and possible. Accomplished teachers keep parents abreast of what is
happening in the classroom and its impact on student learning. For instance, teachers
may develop a newsletter or may keep a Web page or a blog. Teachers ensure that
parents and children know how to access such communications.
Accomplished teachers invite parents’ comments, questions, and suggestions
on their children’s education, and they collaborate with parents to ensure mutual
understanding of expectations. When teachers communicate important notices,
they follow up to make certain that parents have received and understood the
information. Teachers provide families with a comprehensive overview of students’
literacy development, using work samples, portfolios, report cards, and test scores
as evidence. Accomplished literacy teachers encourage questions and offer
explanations when necessary.
Accomplished teachers enlist the support of parents and encourage their
expertise to promote children’s success. When needs arise, teachers work with
parents to plan and implement interventions and enrichments. Accomplished literacy
teachers take a positive perspective when they communicate with families, and they
find occasions to inform parents when a student has made a breakthrough as well as
when problems occur.
Assisting Families in Supporting Their Children’s Learning
Development
Accomplished teachers share their professional expertise with family members
and discuss ways in which parents can support their children’s literacy development.
For example, teachers may hold informal workshops for parents (with interpreters
when needed) in which they explain standards, assessments, and aspects of the
curriculum such as the writing process. Accomplished teachers provide parents with
strategies that they can use to help their children develop effective learning habits
and study skills. Teachers suggest ways that parents can help their children set goals
for improving their literacy performance. Literacy teachers encourage families to read
with their children at home and provide specific strategies for doing so. For example,
if a child is having difficulty comprehending grade-level material, the teacher might
provide parents a list of texts written at the student’s actual reading level and strategies
for sharing these texts at home. Additionally, if a student is reading above grade
level, the teacher might offer parents materials and strategies that will challenge and
accelerate the student’s literacy development.
Accomplished teachers recognize that the school climate powerfully affects parent
participation. Teachers invite parents and other community members to support the
school literacy program by observing or participating in classroom or school functions
including, but not limited to, celebrations of student learning, book fairs, student
performances, luncheons, and fundraising events. Teachers encourage parents to
become active partners in their children’s education by regularly volunteering. Literacy
teachers might invite parents to support individual instruction, read to groups of
students, or speak with the class about ways in which they use literacy in their work
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AND COMMUNITIES
and daily lives. As a result, teachers create a warm, welcoming environment where
parents feel valued and connected to the learning community.
Accomplished teachers recognize that to foster a positive home-school
relationship, they must take into account parents’ own school histories and
convictions about education. For example, adults who had mainly negative
educational experiences may be reluctant to become involved with their children’s
school. Conversely, some concerned parents may insist that their children receive
the same type of reading–language arts instruction which they remember receiving.
Accomplished teachers know how to open and maintain lines of communication with
all parents. They are sensitive to parental perspectives and seek to resolve concerns
in respectful ways. They enter each discussion expecting to reach a workable
solution. They focus the conversation on what parents care about—the welfare of
their child—as they keep students’ best interests in the forefront of their minds and
actions. Accomplished teachers are able to articulate and clarify solutions to parents
based on sound research and pedagogy.
Accomplished teachers serve as advocates for students and families. They help
parents access and navigate the school system and community resources. For
example, they introduce parents to specialists such as the school counselor, reading
specialist, or other support staff. Additionally, when students have medical needs that
may interfere with their literacy development, accomplished teachers make parents
aware of relevant healthcare resources. For instance, an accomplished teacher might
refer a student for visual, hearing, or speech evaluation or therapy.
Connecting Families, Schools, and Communities
Accomplished teachers know that no school or classroom exists in isolation.
Therefore, teachers seek positive ways to involve themselves and their students with
local and global communities. Teachers’ awareness of the importance of community
relations leads them to inform the community at large about school goals, classroom
projects, and student successes. They also inform administrators about learning
activities that are worthy of media attention. Teachers aim to establish the kind of
informed understanding that can occur when school and community work together.
Accomplished teachers know that gaining an understanding of students’ lives
in the community outside school is essential to becoming a successful educator.
Teachers engage with the local community outside the school day. They may shop
at the local grocery store; visit cultural centers; or attend sporting events, recitals,
or plays. Accomplished literacy teachers recognize that informal interactions with
families and the community improve their understanding of their students and
ultimately benefit students’ learning.
Accomplished teachers seek opportunities within the community to expand
their students’ advocacy and decision-making skills while simultaneously advancing
students’ literacy skills. For example, teachers might help students respond to
local issues through letters to the editor, or they might organize students in service
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AND COMMUNITIES
programs such as writing letters to community members who are serving in the armed
services. Accomplished teachers may also use online tools to build local and global
relationships. Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers believe that
connecting schools to the wider world can provide mutually enriching experiences
for literacy learning.
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PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Standard XIII
Professional Responsibility
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy: reading–
language arts teachers actively contribute to the improvement of
literacy teaching and learning and to the advancement of literacy
knowledge and practice for the profession.
Accomplished early and middle childhood literacy teachers believe that, as
responsible professionals, they are committed to the continuing growth and
development of their students, themselves, their colleagues, their schools, and the
field of literacy education. Accomplished teachers routinely collaborate with other
members of the school community to provide literacy instruction to all students. To
this systematic, collaborative process teachers bring a comprehensive knowledge of
both the field of literacy education and the learner in a context that is professional,
purposeful, relevant, probing, and productive. Accomplished literacy teachers
also act as members of a learning community that extends beyond their schools,
collaborating to enhance the profession as a whole.
Improving Instruction in Their Own Classrooms
As professional educators, accomplished teachers are aware of and
knowledgeable about current research and are able to draw on research findings to
make educational decisions. They routinely engage in reflection on and critiques of
what they read in research in order to improve their classroom practice, evaluating
the impact of their instruction on student learning and the classroom environment.
They seek out professional learning opportunities.
In addition to engaging in individual reflection, accomplished teachers value
collaboration with colleagues as a means of strengthening their instructional practice.
They invite school professionals such as administrators, counselors, and other
teachers into the classroom to seek input into how they can improve instruction. For
example, a literacy teacher might bring in a specialist to observe interactions with a
particular student. The literacy teacher would then ask for the specialist’s feedback.
Accomplished literacy teachers observe and collaborate with effective teachers to
refine their own instructional practices. They welcome new ideas that preservice
teachers bring during field experiences, realizing that gaining multiple perspectives
can assist in improving instruction in their own classrooms.
Accomplished teachers professionally seek knowledge about a wide variety
of learners, such as English language learners, students with exceptionalities,
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and students from diverse cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds—including
populations not currently being served in their classroom or school. These teachers
know numerous ways to differentiate instruction to meet all students’ needs. By
continuing to learn from research, reflection, and collaboration with parents and
colleagues, accomplished teachers become change agents for improving their own
approaches to instruction.
Contributing to the School’s Intellectual Life and Quality
of Instruction
In addition to being exemplary readers, writers, and lifelong learners, accomplished
teachers take many leadership roles within the school community when possible. They
may provide mentoring to experienced colleagues who need additional professional
development in a specific area of literacy instruction. They support the learning of
their colleagues in many ways, from opening their classrooms for observation to
encouraging a colleague to take the risk of trying a new teaching strategy or serving
as a leader of a professional learning community. Accomplished teachers work with
colleagues to design, improve, or evaluate professional development plans and
practices. They lead professional development sessions for their colleagues on topics
in which they have expertise. For example, a literacy teacher might lead a session on
authentic writing assessment and subsequently provide support as new procedures
are implemented.
Accomplished teachers share their expertise with teachers in other content
areas. They design and implement multiple literacy resources for interdisciplinary
learning, such as using children’s literature to teach content. They contribute to the
creation, review, or revision of curricula, always accounting for their students’ current
performance and expected academic growth. They initiate formal and informal
discussions about professional issues with colleagues and other stakeholders within
the greater community. For example, they may engage with peers in discussions
of scholarly articles they have read, or they may lead a book club discussion on an
issue of relevance to literacy instruction.
Accomplished teachers collaborate with colleagues and administrators to improve
school-wide instruction. For example, they join with their colleagues in collecting
data and examining trends in student achievement and use the results to evaluate
the literacy curriculum. They carefully coordinate their work with other teachers and
educational support providers to ensure vertical and horizontal alignment for students’
academic success. Literacy teachers provide well-integrated curricula that meet
students’ learning requirements and contribute to interdisciplinary understanding.
Accomplished teachers are agents for positive change in their schools. They
recognize the factors that influence the school culture and affect morale. They use
this awareness to create an environment that is both supportive and nurturing, but
which also reflects high expectations for teacher performance and student learning.
Teachers use effective communication skills to build positive relationships. They
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identify and celebrate strengths of their colleagues that support student literacy
learning.
Contributing to the Advancement of the Profession
Accomplished teachers are dedicated to the continuing growth and development
of their profession. Whenever possible, these teachers extend their professional
commitment beyond the confines of their classrooms and their schools. Through
their interactions with colleagues and engagement in the profession, accomplished
literacy teachers pursue educational excellence.
Accomplished teachers are advocates for policies, interdisciplinary initiatives, and
resources that will benefit their students, their school, and their profession. These
teachers may lobby legislators or address school boards about issues that affect
student learning. They work to preserve students’ rights to read, write, and discuss
a variety of topics. Literacy teachers seek opportunities to collaborate in local, state,
national, and international ventures with other educators to improve school policies,
organizations, or procedures. They exercise effective leadership by fostering an
attitude of innovation, open-mindedness, and collaboration among all stakeholders
in order to advance the teaching profession. For example, they may assume a
leadership role in a professional organization, make presentations at professional
conferences and conventions, or conduct action research. They may contribute
letters or articles to professional journals or serve on education policy committees.
Accomplished teachers take actions toward informing policies relating to education.
They realize that they are the voice for the students they serve and for the profession
as a whole. Teachers articulate concerns about ideas, requirements, curricular
assumptions, and other factors that may limit teaching effectiveness, school quality,
or student learning, such as curriculum changes that limit opportunities to read and
write or budget cuts that limit purchasing of books and other media for classrooms.
They may pursue grants to purchase literacy materials. Literacy teachers address
their concerns in ways that have a positive impact on the learning community. They
may utilize the news media as a tool for advocacy, acting as a champion of practices
that promote equitable, fair, and multiple perspectives (See Standard II—Equity,
Fairness, and Diversity.) They may also collaborate with educators from colleges,
universities, or other institutions and agencies to pilot new curricular resources, teach
post-secondary courses, or monitor the work of student teachers and interns. Such
commitment is central to their dedication to the quality of their practice and to the
advancement of reading–language arts education. Accomplished early and middle
childhood literacy teachers take responsibility for contributing to, advancing, and
advocating for the profession in ways that enhance student literacy learning.
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Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards
87
Standards Committees
Standards Committee, Second Edition
Jenny Affentranger, NBCT
Lower Elementary Principal
Bethel Public Schools
Shawnee, OK
Becky McCraw, NBCT
Instructional Coach and Media Specialist
Cherokee County Schools
Gaffney, SC
Devon Brenner
Associate Professor of Reading and Language
Arts
Mississippi State University
Starkville, MS
Merlina McCullough, NBCT
Literacy Specialist
Mountain Home Public School
Adjunct Professor
Arkansas State University
Salem, AR
Mitchell Brookins, NBCT
Differentiated Instruction Specialist, Area 2
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago, IL
Jacqueline Carrero, NBCT
ESOL Developmental Language Arts and World
History Teacher
Exceptional Student Support Facilitator
McNicol Middle School
Hollywood, FL
Jonathan Gillentine, NBCT—Co-Chair
Preschool Inclusion Teacher
Rev. Benjamin Parker School
Kaneohe, Hawaii
Donna Mahar, NBCT
Associate Professor of English Education and
Literacy
SUNY, Empire State College
Syracuse, NY
Stella Nowell, NBCT
Kindergarten/First Grade Teacher
University of Wyoming Lab School
Laramie, WY
Jennifer Strachan, NBCT—Co-Chair
Preschool Special Education Itinerant Teacher
Division of Early Childhood Programs and
Services
Montgomery County Public Schools
Olney, MD
Sandra Wells
Literacy Coordinator
Twinfield Union School
Plainfield, VT
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards
88
Standards Committee, First Edition
Raquel Adame
Garza Elementary School
McAllen, Texas
Phyllis Hunter
Phyllis C. Hunter Consultive, Inc
Sugar Land, Texas
Donna Barnes
North Berwick, Maine
Donna M. Marriott, NBCT
San Diego City Schools
San Diego, California
Felicia Blacher-Wilson
Xavier University
New Orleans, Louisiana
Deborah R. Dillon—Vice Chair
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cora Lee Five
Scarsdale, New York
Sheri Lyn Galarza—Chair
Kamehameha Schools
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Walter H. Gladwin
Sacred Heart School
Bronx, New York
Kathryn Henn-Reinke
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Kim Hughes
Wake County Schools
Raleigh, North Carolina
Michael R. Morris
Sheldon Jackson College
Sitka, Alaska
Edward E. Paradis
University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
Catherine Rich, NBCT
American Indian Magnet School
St. Paul, Minnesota
Maureen S. Roach, NBCT
Lyndon Pilot School
West Roxbury, Massachusetts
Nancy Slattery, NBCT
Lincoln School
Highland Park, Illinois
Onetta Williams
Albany State University
Albany, Georgia
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards
89
Acknowledgments
Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards, Second Edition, derives its power to describe
accomplished teaching from an amazing degree of collaboration and consensus among educators from
the field. Through the expertise and input of two standards committees; numerous reviews by the board of
directors; and two periods of public comment by educators, policymakers, parents, and the like, as well as
through the intense study of candidates for National Board Certification who have immersed themselves
in the first edition, these second-edition standards emerge as a living testament to what accomplished
teachers should know and be able to do. Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards, Second Edition,
represents the best thinking by teachers and for teachers about advanced teaching practice in the field.
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is deeply grateful to all those who
contributed their time, wisdom, and professional vision to Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards,
Second Edition. Any field grows, shifts, and evolves over time. Standards, too, must remain dynamic and
therefore are subject to revision. In 2010, NBPTS convened a second Literacy: Reading–Language Arts
Standards Committee. This committee was charged with achieving both continuity and change, using
the first edition of the standards as the foundation for its work but modifying the standards to reflect
best practices of the early 21st century. The Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards Committee
exemplified the collegiality, expertise, and dedication to the improvement of student learning that are
hallmarks of accomplished teachers. Special thanks go to committee co-chairs, Jonathan Gillentine,
NBCT and Jennifer Strachan, NBCT, for their invaluable leadership in making the second edition a reality.
A debt of gratitude is owed to the original committees which debated, reflected, and articulated
the multiple facets of accomplished teaching in literacy to advance the field and to provide a rigorous
and sound basis for national certification of teachers. In particular, the National Board appreciates the
leadership of the chair and vice chair of the previous committee, Brooke Workman and Doris Dillon, who
skillfully led the effort to weave the National Board’s Five Core Propositions into field-specific standards of
teaching excellence.
The work of the Literacy: Reading–Language Arts Standards Committee was guided by the NBPTS
Board of Directors. The National Board Certification Council was instrumental in selecting the standards
committee, reviewing the current edition of the standards, and recommending adoption of the standards
to the full board of directors. Stakeholders from disciplinary and policy organizations, teacher associations,
and higher education provided insight into the current status of the field and recommended members for
the committee. Writer Stacey Sparks, and staff members Joan Auchter, Lisa Stooksberry, Mary Lease,
NBCT, and Lauren Konopacz supported the committee in their task. Graphic artist Samad A. Razzaq also
generously donated his talents.
In presenting these standards for accomplished literacy teachers, NBPTS recognizes that this
publication would not have evolved without the considerable contributions of many unnamed institutions
and individuals, including the hundreds of people who responded to public comment. On behalf of NBPTS,
we extend our thanks to all of them.
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